SPARTANS: A new breed of soldier
by LilithiaRW
Summary: Naruto/Halo crossover. In a futuristic world where humans have colonized throughout the galaxy, humanity is suddenly attacked by a genocidal alliance of aliens known as the Bijuu. The SPARTAN supersoldier program is humanity's best hope for survival. Alpha Squad - Akatsuki; Spartan recruits - Naruto&Co. FULL SUMMARY INSIDE. I don't own the cover. Rated T for language and violence.
1. Chapter 1: They Own You

**Full Summary:**

 **Sakura and the Akatsuki are the first generation of supersoldiers. Created to fight against human rebels, the civil war is interrupted when alien space ships suddenly appear in the outer reaches of the galaxy and begin killing off any human life that they find. With the Bijuu out for genocide, Sakura is called back into service with Spartan Squad Alpha - nicknamed the Red Dawn. Leaving behind her college friends (Naruto &co.), she returns to active duty in order to somehow save the human race.**

 **Years later, with the Human-Bijuu war in full swing, Naruto and Co. have been recruited to be a part of the next generation of the Spartan Program. With Hidan as their Drill Sergeant and a 20% success rate, they thought their lives couldn't get much tougher.**

 **Until Sakura turned out to be their commanding officer.**

 **Pairings: Itachi/Sakura (main), Naruto/Hinata, Shikamaru/Ino**

 **STANDARD DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR HALO**

* * *

Prologue:

Earth year - New Age, 3021

Federation year - 336 (since the start of human colonization)

Humanity's population had outgrown what Earth could support. And so as humanity has always done, they sought new frontiers. Spreading into new galaxies, they began colonizing other planets, those that were capable of supporting life. Each of these tertiary planets held new and foreign species, yet none of them were sentient like the humans.

They called themselves the Inter-Galactic Federation. And as humans always do, there were those who chaffed under the government. The outer colonies felt disconnected from the older, more settle planets. They were looked down upon as being barbaric, rugged, space-age cowboys with little education or sophistication. It was no surprise when they called for independence.

The Spartan program was originally intended to counteract the rebels of the outer colonies. Hitting two birds with one stone, the Spartan program would test the military's first generation of genetically-enhanced supersoldiers and crush the rebellion. However, before the Spartans could be put to that use, something else encountered the outer colonies.

They were called the Bijuu.

* * *

Federation Year 329 - Seven years prior

 _New Harvard University was located on the planet Haven, in the city of New Harmony, one of the first of the Federation colonies. Classes at this prestigious university specialized in medicine and research. Recently, the university had signed an agreement with Ames Military Academy, merging the classes between the two colleges and giving the military students the opportunity to have a back-up career in the civilian world. This also gave Ames medical students to have a more in-depth education before being sent into the field._

 _A group of college students exited the building, some wearing backpacks, a few merely carrying a notebook and pen. It was the beginning of a new year, and they were all excited about starting their sophomore classes. They were laughing among each other, and the blonde one pouted while the dark-hard boy rolled his eyes. The tall pinkette whispered something into her friend's ear, and the shy girl blushed until her entire face was red, while a platinum-blonde girl snickered evilly._

 _"Sai! Why do you have to be such an ass!" The blonde one whined, his child-like face conflicting with his tall, muscled body, the shirt he wore reading 'Louisville Lacrosse - Go Toads!'._

 _The boy he was talking to, Sai, scowled and ducked out of the way of an attempted-chokehold. "Dickless, you have the grace of a toad. How appropriate."_

 _"For once in you life, can't you just call him by his name and save us all some grief?" The other dark-haired boy grumbled, rubbing his ears. "Naruto! Stop screaming."_

 _"Teme..." Naruto growled._

 _"Sasuke, I will call Dickless a name that is relevant to him." Sai said casually, ducking out of the way as the blonde lunged._

 _"I don't know about that..." The pinkette sang in a teasing voice._

 _The shorter girl paled. "Sakura, no -!"_

 _"I'm pretty sure Hinata can vouch otherwise." Sakura grinned evilly._

 _"You think we don't recognize your little 'glow' every morning, hm?" The other blonde girl teased, tall and thin, wearing a sweatpants over her cheer-leading outfit. Her tank top read 'Harvard Cheer' with plenty of sequins and an image of pom-poms embroidered on the pockets of her sweatpants._

 _"Inoooooo!" Hinata squealed._

 _Both Hinata and Naruto blushed bright red while the rest of the group laughed. The unofficial couple stammered denials as the group halted at a crosswalk. Around them the city glowed with neon lights and hover-cars. New Harvard campus was merged with the city around it, dorms sitting above shops and cafes, educational buildings sitting next to inter-galactic corporate skyscrapers._

 _When Sasuke and Naruto were freshmen, they had been among the first crossover students from the AMA (Ames Military Academy) in New Harvard, still students and not yet soldiers. Both were from a long line of military service, Naruto the son of a famous general, and Sasuke the son of the Uchiha family, who were practically military royalty. Sai was civilian-born, an art student, soft-spoken but with wicked wit. Hinata was the daughter of the Hyuuga corporation, an inter-galactic government contractor that specialized in technological security and inter-planetary communications. Ino was also from a civilian background, but her grandfather was an important politician in something-or-other, and managed to help her get into New Harvard._

 _(Sakura never told them where she was from)_

 _They crossed the street and entered a cafe that doubled as the common room for the college dorm that took up the floors above it. Meeting them there were the other members of their group, sitting in a corner of the cafe known as 'their spot'. The low-lighting highlighted the bright fushia couches with velvety black pillows that had silver sequins. The walls were tiled with blue glass that caught the neon lights that filtered in through the windows, causing the cafe to almost glow. Projection screens floated a few inches above the tables, waiting to take their orders._

 _"Yo." A lazy kid called to them, laying horizontally across the sofa, inhaling a sweet-smelling mint-colored Nic-Stick._

 _"Lazy ass." Ino muttered as she walked over to him and sat on top of his chest. "The gang's all here, Shika-kun!"_

 _The boy coughed and pretended to attempt pushing her off, though everyone knew he never would. Everyone could see the adoration in his eyes when she wasn't looking. Unfortunately, everyone but Ino seemed to realize that Shikamaru had it baaad. They were unofficially the school's OTP._

 _"Whipped!" One of their other friends coughed into his fist._

 _Ino glared at him. "Kiba, don't make me rip your ears out."_

 _Shikamaru was the youngest in their group, a child genius that was sent to college at the ripe age of sixteen. The Federation probably would have put him there sooner, if he hadn't tried so hard to keep his genius hidden. Eventually his father - just as smart as his son - ratted him out to the government and had him shipped off to the AMA. And for all of his smarts, he still did not have the courage to ask Ino out. He was eighteen now and about to start his junior year, yet still younger than his sophomore friends, all of whom were nineteen, near twenty._

 _(Except Sakura, who never spoke about her age)_

 _Kiba was what people called a Modkid. Body implants were the latest rage, and he had traded in his human ears for dog ears, which sat on top of his head and twitched at every sound. He had extended fangs too, and the dual impact of fluffy ears and bad-boy fangs made girls melt to putty in his hands. He was an unashamed womanizer, also an AMA soldier boy, who was following in his family's footsteps by joining the military's Hunter Program, a combination of military police and inter-planetary bounty hunters._

 _He was almost as much of an asshole as Sasuke. Almost. Sasuke was an antisocial jerk, who had no qualms breaking girls hearts. Naruto was his only friend, probably because the blonde had forced himself into Sasuke's life when they were both kids, and now the Uchiha boy would never escape him. The two of them were inseparable, save for when Hinata was concerned. Before the Hyuuga girl had stolen Naruto's heart, Uzumaki and Uchiha were a renowned pair of fighters in NewHarm's fight clubs._

 _That was how they had met Kiba. There were plenty of AMA boys who liked to practice their fighting skills in underground fight clubs that filled up New Harmony's abandoned garages and warehouses on Friday and Saturday nights. It was thought that the Academy knew about the fight clubs, but did not shut them down because it allowed the boys to practice fighting in a less-controlled environment than the school could legally provide. The three boys had nearly set the school on fire several times with how much trouble they got up to when left alone._

 _At one point Kiba and his uncontrollable libido had gone after the hottest cheerleader in New Harvard, the one and only Yamanaka Ino. What a lot of people didn't know, however, was that Ino is one smart cookie. She had verbally ripped Kiba a new one in the middle of the college courtyard and Shikamaru, who had been studying/sleeping under a nearby tree, had immediately fallen for her._

 _Ino had met Hinata in the gym locker room, when she had overheard some of the more catty girls making fun of Hinata. However all girls knew that a cheerleader was not someone to mess with, and Ino practically breathed fire at the bullies. And that was how Ino and Hinata became friends._

 _And then, second semester, they were all assigned to the same dorm._

 _Including a mysterious pink-haired girl that no one had ever seen on campus before._

 _Sakura was a mystery to everyone. She was good at almost everything, incredibly smart and athletic, and was aiming at getting into the New Harvard medical school. She was tall and she was beautiful, but strangely serious for a woman of her youth. Whenever asked about her background, she carefully manipulated the conversation away from the subject. No one knew who she was or where she was from before she had showed up in NewHarm. Shikamaru, the paranoid genius, had even tried to hack into the school's network for her files, but found nothing._

 _Ino and Hinata had accepted her regardless, at first forcing her to stay in the common room and socialize. At first Sakura had been hesitant, quiet and low-voiced, tense and a little awkward. Eventually she learned to fit in, and could proudly say that she was less socially awkward than Sai (who had been pronounced a hopeless cause by Ino)._

 _"So, where does everyone wanna go eat?" Ino, the social leader of the group, asked loudly._

 _"Chinese." Sasuke grunted._

 _Kiba wrinkled his nose. "Ew! Let's go for that new place with the cuisine from Corinthia Colony."_

 _"I actually prefer Greer Colony food." Shikamaru said._

 _"But Chinese is a traditional Earth cuisine!" Naruto said dramatically. "It was a long history of emperors and dragons, long before we set our sights in space - "_

 _"Dude, that has nothing to do with food." Kiba rolled his eyes._

 _"Alright, let's take a vote!" Ino announced. "Raise your hand if you want Chinese," Sasuke and Naruto, "Corinthia food," Hinata, Sakura, and Kiba raised their hands, "Greer food?" Shikamaru shrugged.  
_

 _"Alright, we're going to the Corinthia place." Ino nodded, ignoring the unhappy faces of Naruto and Sasuke._

 _The group all filed out of the common room/cafe and onto the city streets of New Harmony. The days on planet Haven lasted thirty hours, so at 23:31 hours, they still had plenty of time before sunset. As the sun (star 082 of solar system 1324, second system of Earth colonization) began to descend on Haven, New Harmony lit up with the nightlife._

 _The city was ablaze with argon lights, flashing neon colors in the common Proto-Euro-Orient (which was basically a mixture of the old languages of Earth - English, Spanish, and Chinese). Hover cars zoomed by, both on the ground and in the sky-streets, a cleared level in the city which was basically a floating freeway. Humans walked by from all over the galaxy: Corinthians, with their skin stained orange from their planet's intense star; Iwa people, who could barley be distinguished from other humans save for their slightly-wideset eyes; Greers with stout bodies from their planet's heavy atmosphere; Mizu people with sharpened teeth (although that was just the fashion of their world)._

 _Most of the humans were not too different from their origins on Earth, with only one or two features distinguishing them from others._

 _Sakura walked beside Hinata on the floating sidewalks built from plasterglass, keeping the pedestrians safe from the traffic of the hover-cars. The restaurant they entered was called Lek'Gar, named after one of the famous cities on planet Corinth. The group sat down at a large table off to the side, their fingers tapping across the projection screens to send in their orders to the kitchen._

 _A large screen was projected in the middle of the table, hovering a foot above the plasterglass. Kiba brought up some silly space-net video, while Hinata and Naruto made goo-goo eyes at each other across the table. Sasuke glanced at his best friend and made a disgusted face at the love-struck blonde, while Ino and Shikamaru got into yet another argument over military intelligence._ _Sakura eventually joined the conversation, Sasuke and Kiba were talking about the latest workout schedules posted by the Academy, and then their food arrived. Hinata turned to Sakura and asked her about an upcoming festival downtown, and Ino immediately butted in and swore to find the pinkette a proper date._

 _When the boys had nearly bankrupted the restaurant with all the food that they ate, the group pitched in with the bill and exited the restaurant._

 _"Who knew Corinthians had blue corn?" Kiba laughed as they made their way back to the dorms._

 _"I really like that noodle-egg thing." Hinata said, furrowing her brows as she attempted to remember the name._

 _"It's called Ga'mol." Sakura said. "Egg noodles fried in Elmsy sauce, served with a Loona cutlet."_

 _The rest of the group blinked._

 _"You read that off of your photographic memory, didn't you?" Shikamaru drawled._

 _Sakura smiled sheepishly._

 _"Mah, if it weren't for Lazy over here, I'd have labeled you the genius of this group." Sasuke sighed as he began to walk away._

 _They continued down the street, walking down the block back to the campus. Between the skyscrapers, two towers stood above the skyline, on opposite sides of the downtown area. One was the main building for the Ames Military Academy, the other was the center of New Harvard. The sunset glittered across their windows, lighting the city up like a jewel._

 _The group crossed a street and onto another street that had been nicknamed 'Dorm Boulevard', due to the amount of high-rises that were actually dorms belonging to the New Harvard-AMA merger. The street itself was closed off, save for hoverbards and lightscooters, due to the traffic of students that were constantly coming and going._

 _"Whoa, look at that piece of hardware."_

 _Sakura was interrupted in her musings as Naruto pointed down the street. The group paused to stare at a person parked outside of their dorm._

 _"That's a military-grade bike." Sasuke murmured in awe, and all of the AMA boys practically salivated at the sight. Military-grade meaning petrol-nuke-fusion powered, as the Federation had a monopoly on petroleum in the galaxy._

 _Sakura froze and peered around Sai's shoulder._

 _The bike was black, with what was basically armor-plating. It's tires were as wide as her hips, the seat was low, and the streamlined body was built for speed. It's rider looked like he had just pulled in, revving the engine unnecessarily. He wore a plain outfit, black jeans, a leather jacket, and a black helmet with red flames._

 _She would have known it anywhere._

 _"Stay here." Sakura ordered, her voice unnaturally low and surprising her friends by how cold she sounded and the dark expression on her face._

 _They glanced at each other in confusion as Sakura stomped across the street, shoulders back, chin up, and suddenly much scarier than the girl that they knew. No one had ever seen sweet not-so-little Sakura loose her temper, but the air was practically frigid as she approached the biker._

 _"The hell are you doing here?" She hissed as she slammed her hand on the bike's dash._

 _"Nice to see you too, Birdy." A deep voice drawled through the visor, his hands reaching up to remove his helmet._

 _"Don't call me that." Sakura snapped, meeting his gaze._

 _The man before her was extremely tall, at least two meters (seven feet), slender but muscular, with eyes so dark they seemed black, and ebony hair that was shaved close to his head in a GI cut._

 _"I'm here because they're calling you in." He held out something that looked like a small circuit board, as thin as a unit card, and as wide as a small notepad._

 _"I'm out." She snapped. "I did what they wanted; I earned my way out."_

 _He didn't bother to lower his arm. "You can never 'get out', little Bird."_

 _Sakura glared at him and reluctantly took the Comm. She pressed her thumb to the identity pad, and a projection flickered to life. A screen opened up before her, made out of pixels and light, numbers and letter running across it in military jargon._

 _"Should have known they'd never let me be." She muttered._

 _The man smirked. "What made you think they would? This is the Federation. And you... you are their property."_

 _"Shut up, Crow."_

 _She was silent for a moment as she glared at the Comm projection in her hand, reading the information that was presented to her on the screen._

 _"Sakura? You okay?" Ino's voice called._

 _She glanced up and saw her friends lingering in front of their dorm, only six or so meters from her position, but they felt oceans away. A year. For a year she was allowed to believe in this farce, in a dream about being a normal girl, at a normal college, with normal friends and normal pastimes. But she knew that she was deluding herself. It was only a matter of time._

 _"You have ten minutes to gather your things."_

 _Sakura turned back to the one named 'Crow'._

 _"And then we're heading back to base."_

 _"Dammit." She hissed. "There had better be a good fucking reason for this."_

 _"Oh trust me, there is." Crow grumbled in a way that made her stomach drop. She didn't miss the way his eyes flickered over to her friends, studying them._

 _Sakura glanced between her friends, and the digital file in her hand. Her fingers tightened around the object, knuckles white. She gave a jerky nod._

 _The bike's engine revved as Crow put his helmet back on and took off down the road, probably to make a circle around the city while she got her things._

 _"Sakura...?" Hinata asked her as the pinkette pushed past her friends into the dorm, running to the lift._

 _"I'm fine." She muttered as she breezed passed them._

 _"Wait! Sakura!" Her friends called after her as she was elevated up to her floor. She could hear a few of them scrambling to get onto the other lifts and follow her._

 _She locked her room when she entered it, and began hastily going through her drawers. Tearing off her clothes, she changed out of her school uniform and into a pair of black leggings - except these leggings were made with a synthetic material called 'neuro-lace', better known as a skin-suiting. It was a centimeter thick, and glimmered with a scale-looking pattern, and one could dull a knife trying to cut through it. She pulled on a long-sleeved shirt with the same material, and over that a leather jacket._

 _Her friends reached her room as she was tying her combat boots, banging on the door and demanding answers. It sounded like it was just Ino and Hinata, the boys probably wanting to avoid emotional girl-drama._

 _She didn't answer the door._

 _Eventually she heard their footsteps retreat down the hallway. Sakura kept her mind blank as she slipped a knife into each boot, and then another one at her hip. She glanced into the mirror, pausing at the medium-length pink hair that so many civilians were envious of. Most people thought that she dyed it. No one realized it was because of genetic interference._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _"Holy shit, Sakura?!" Naruto nearly fell out of his seat when he glanced up at her._

 _The entire group of friends stared at the pinkette as she exited the lift, walking through the common room and looking like a completely different person. In place of the skirts and dresses she used to be fond of, she now was in a leather jacket and combat boots. She seemed larger, colder, a stranger._

 _Even the stoic Sasuke froze when he noticed that she had cut off all of her hair._

 _Her pink strands were in a pixie-cut now, cropped close to her head in the back, the longest strands framing her face. She carried herself like a soldier, walking with lithe, even footsteps, almost stalking. She didn't pause to speak to them as she exited the dorm, a loud revving announcing the arrival of the biker Sakura had spoken to earlier._

 _They watched through the glass doors as the rider tossed another helmet at her, and she easily caught it. Sakura gave the bright pink helmet an unamused look and glared at the rider. They watched as the mysterious biker shrugged his shoulders and Sakura huffed, donning the helmet as if she did it every day._

 _She glanced back at them with an apologetic look before flipping down the visor and mounting the bike. The biker glanced into the windows, his helmet hiding his face, but they could tell he was looking at them too._

 _Then the engine roared and they were gone._

 _._

 _._

 _._

 _Crow had been right._

 _Things had gone to shit, apparently._

 _As she stared at the maps and case files on the screen, Sakura had a hard time believing the data she was reading. The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) was the in charge of most of the Federation's black op groups. With the Outer Colony Resistance (OCR) gaining power in the outer regions of the galaxy, the Federation was getting antsy. The SPARTAN program was created to put down the rebellion before it gained ground, but due to complications in funding and relations between the labs and the military office, things had been delayed. The resistance continued to grow, and the Spartans had barely begun their training. And now, just at the Spartans were getting their feet wet in battle, something else showed up._

 _Something big._

 _Her green eyes were impossibly wide as she scanned the pictures that their probes had sent back to intelligence. The black void of space was interrupted by huge flames and gaseous explosions as the OCR ships were attacked. The enemy ships were shooting bolts of some sort of glowing energy, the larger motherships accompanied by fleets of smaller cruisers, built for speed and battle. It had been a massacre._

 _"It wasn't us." One of her teammates muttered as he crossed his arms and stared into the projection with a severe frown._

 _"I can see that." She replied._

 _The Spartans may have been sent in to fight against the OCR platoon, but it was not the Spartans who made it there first. The ships that were attacking the rebels were of a completely inhuman design. Sleeker, streamlined, but painted in bright colors, absolutely without regard to camoflouge, but probably because these ships had fucking **cloaking devices** \- they could go completely invisible._

 _It should have been impossible. Like something out of a sci-fi thriller videogame._

 _But there they were._

 _Aliens._

* * *

 **/:/::/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/::/**

 **/:/:/SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/:/::/**

 **.../:/ {Test Subject 087}:/:/::/**

 **Origin:** System 435 - Planet 056 - Spring Colony

 **Name:** Haruno Sakura

 **Code Name:** Nightingale

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 309 (orphan)

 **Age:** Acquired at 6 Fed. years, currently 29 Fed. years

 **Training:** 89% success rate - 9/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 287 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated

 **Eyes:** Green

 **Hair:** Brown **[** **insert]** Turned pink after Augmentation

 **Height:** Biologically 1.6m / 5'4ft - After Augmentation 1.8m / 6'2ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 45.4kg / 100lbs - After Augmentation 63.5kg / 140lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Beta leader - Sniper - Close combat

 **Comments:** It's interesting... She is nearly the opposite of her peers. Efficient and deadly, yes, but she is not as... anti-social as the others. She acts like a human, not a robot. Quiet, intelligent, tactful, but she is not emotionally stunted from the training processes. No need for the AI mind modifications.

* * *

 **/:/::/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL _DOUBLED_ RED/:/::/**

 **/:/:/SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/:/::/**

 **.../:/ {Test Subject 113}:/:/::/**

 **Origin:** System 1324 - Planet 086 - Haven Colony

 **Name:** Uchiha Itachi

 **Code Name:** Crow

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 311 (replaced with clone)

 **Age:** Acquired at 5 Fed. years, currently 28 Fed. years

 **Training:** 99% success rate - 10/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 19 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated

 **Eyes:** Black

 **Hair:** Black

 **Height:** Biologically 1.7m / 5'8ft - After Augmentation 2.1m / 7'0ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 58kg / 127lbs - After Augmentation 93.0kg / 205lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Alpha leader - Spearhead - Tactician - Close combat

 **Comments:** It looks like Dr. Tsunade was right, despite the scandal. He's the perfect soldier. He took to the Augmentation like a fish to water. The other test subjects follow him without question. He's smartest, the strongest, the fastest, and he doesn't talk back. Definitely is as emotionally stunted as the rest of the test subjects - suggest for the AI modification? He'll definitely get a leadership position. Request for Alpha Squad.

* * *

 **AN: This will be a short story, maybe five chapters at most. This is my first attempt at Sci-Fi, despite the fact that I am a huge a Halo fan. Most of the stuff is easy to understand, but if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.**


	2. Chapter 2: Just Another Day on the Job

**Aliens =Bijuu**

 **Alien ranks compared to Halo Covenant:**

 **Ichibi [raccoon dog] = Grunts (very common, short, stout, strength lies in their numbers)**

 **Nibi [cat] = Jackals (common, slight, quick, agile, excellent snipers)**

 **Sanbi [turtle] = Hunters (rare, near-impenetrable outer armor, but weak flesh underneath)**

 **Yonbi [ape] = Brutes (common, gorilla-like, great physical strength, usually in leadership positions)  
**

 **Gobi [whale horse] = Elites (common, intelligent, agile, fast, strong, always in leadership positions)**

 **Rukobi [slug] = Prophets (extremely rare, leaders of the alien alliance, non-combative)**

 **Shichibi [rhino beetle] = Drones (very common, beetle-like, flying aliens, no intelligence)**

 **Hachibi [octopus bull] = Engineers (rare, extremely intelligent, manages Bijuu technology, non-combative)**

 **Kyuubi [fox] = Scarab (extremely rare, ultimate Bijuu weapon, capable of leveling a city in seconds)**

* * *

 **Federation Year 334**

 **/:/:/:: ENCRYPTED FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/::/:/**

 **/:/:/ AUDIO FILE - ALPHA SQUAD - RETRIEVAL MISSION - FAILED/::/:/**

"Crow in position. Team, report."

"Shark in position."

"Scorpion in position."

"Boomer in position."

"... That's not your name."

"What if I don't like my name, yeah? I like Boomer."

"That's a stupid name, kid. Just stick with Pyro."

"Shut up, Sas- "

"Both of you shut up."

"Yes, Captain." Both voices gulped.

A female titter could be heard over the comms. "They never change do they?"

"Continue report."

"Yeah, yeah. Nightingale is in the nest."

There is static, and another frequency joins the conversation. "This is Crane, calling in from forward." The voice is female, distant, the connection unsteady and filled with white noise. "I've infiltrated the enemy base and hacked into their network. Package is being contained in the holding cells on the fifth sublevel."

"Good work, Crane." Crow's voice can be heard over the comms. "Get yourself outta there. Don't get yourself killed."

"Already on it." Crane replied, her connection cutting off.

Movement can be heard by several of the Spartans, the faintest clink of armor and the creaking of tight skinsuit mesh. Then the sound of crunching grass, just barely audible, metal against rock, and then her feet touching solid ground.

"I'm in the nest." Crane says. "With Nightingale."

"Crane has cleared the area." Crow suddenly spoke. "Prepare for infiltration. We have two hours before the airstrike. We get in; we get out. No heroics today, got it?"

There is a chorus of 'yes sirs' and 'aye, captain'.

And then there is just movement. The sounds of several people breathing begins to slow, until they are all synced, breathing in and breathing out like a single entity. There is the sound of leaves rustling, soil under foot, and then it changes in the staccato of boots on hard concrete flooring. Minutes pass, and no one speaks. There are grunts and hums of acknowledgement as the soldiers sign hand signals at each other.

The sound of movement slows, and then stills.

Someone tinkers with something, accompanied by the sound of snapping wires and tapping keys.

"Lift has been hacked." Scorpion whispers.

The comms fall back into silence, interrupted only by the steady hum and whoosh of a lift as it descended the levels of the base. The hum deepens as the lift comes to a stop, and then silence again.

There are several clicks as the soldiers arm their guns and the sound of movement as they fall into defensive stances.

The sound of doors sliding open.

"Clear." Crow speaks, and they are moving again. "Entering sublevel five."

Their heartbeats are faster now, but their breathing remained deep and calming, in through the nose and our through their mouths.

Crane comes back online, her connection still spotty, however this time it is not because she is the one behind enemy lines. "The holding cells are on the right wing."

"Found it." Crow replies, and again there is the sound of tinkering and tapping keys.

The sound of skinsuit mesh creaking as the team falls into a defensive stance.

The hall is empty.

A tense silence falls over the group, and this time they take even slower steps into the corridor.

"Where are all the guards?" Shark's deep, guttural voice asks, suspicion creeping into his tone.

"I don't like this, yeah." Pyro's voice says.

There is a pause, and then their footsteps are hurrying over the floor.

"Package sighted. Scorpion, unlock this." Crow commands.

The sound of an energy generator cuts off, and then the slide of iron bars.

"Dr. Shitsure?" Crow asks, and there is the sound of movement, creaking mesh and clinking armor plating. Then he curses.

"Captain?"

"Package is terminated." Crow growls, and the other members of the team mutters profanities.

"Guys!" Nightingale's voice slices into their comms. "Get out now! It's a trap! Several bogeys moving into base!"

"Time to go!" Shark growls, and suddenly the frequency is filled with the sound of movement, louder than before now that they weren't in stealth mode.

Metal boots clank against the floor as the soldiers make a dash out of the holding cells.

"Crane, is there another exit other than the lift?" Crow demands.

Shuffling, presumably Crane checking blueprints of some sort. "Yes, a manual exit in the left wing connecting to the stairwell. Fairly out of the way, you should be able to get to the second floor before they find you."

"You heard the lady." Crow says to his subordinates. The sound of boots changes into a jarring echo as the team enters the stairwell.

"Passing fourth level... passing third level... Second lev - shit!"

Bullets are fired, curses are spewed.

"Pyro, throw a grenade and lock that door!" Crow commands.

"Already on it." Click, grunt, the grenade is tossed.

Shark is heard grunting, accompanied by the sound of a door slamming shut. The metal creaks as a small explosion rocks it from behind. But the squadron is already on the move, more clanking as armor plates drag across cement walls and heavy boots slam into the stairs.

"Get outta there." Nightingale's worried voice enters the comms. "Get outta there now!"

"Take the south exit!" Crane's voice orders them. "Less targets."

"Gotcha." One of the soldiers replies, but at this point they're all panting and their voices strained, and it is hard to tell who it was that replied.

The sound of a door banging open.

Guns fire, round after round, a staccato - _brrrrrr_ \- accompanied by the dying screeches of the enemy.

"Move, move, move!" Crow yells, and suddenly the comms are filled with noise and more gunshots and energy crackle.

"We have incoming on our six!" Shark yells into the comms.

On another frequency, there is the sound of a click, latching, and a bolt sliding into place.

"Covering fire." Nightingale says, her voice suddenly devoid of emotion as she begins to fire. She grunts as she absorbs the force of the shot into her shoulder, and half a second later, there is a crack accompanied by a small sonic boom.

"Headshot." Her please voice purrs.

Several more cracks split the sound of battle, and the blips on the radar screen being to diminish dramatically, Nightingale humming under her breath.

"Clear of immediate area." Crow interrupts her.

"Pulling out." Nightingale replies immediately, the sound of her armor creaking. "Meeting back at -"

"Everybody down!" Crane screams.

There is a collective gasp, a sonic boom, and the comms frequency goes dead for a few seconds. Then there's a low whine, and it comes back online, instantly filled with chatter.

"The fuck was that!"

"Shit, its a dropship!"

"Enemy reinforcements!" Nightingale snarls. The sound of a magazine clicking into place, her gun cocking.

"Retreat now!" Crow orders. "Crane, how's our escape route?"

The woman swears loudly. "They shot down our exit! Another carrier is en route, but we need to hold them off until then!"

"We're fucking outnumbered ten to -"

 _KAAAABOOOOOOOOM!_

* * *

Lying down on at lookout position, Nightingale and Crane gasp, covering their heads with their arms as the blast of soil and debris fly into the air.

An alien Bijuu dropship swoops into the area, plasma cannons firing anywhere and everywhere. The air is filled with dust and dirt, making the world around them barely visible. Only the piercing lights of the alien ship can cut through the haze, hovering just above the ground.

Nightingale peeks through her scope, flicking it to infrared, and counted the reinforcements as they jumped out of the ship.

"Dammit." She hisses into her helmet. "I'm counting three platoons, three leaders, twenty-four grunts. Yonbi and ichibi ranks!"

Crane's fingers fly across the screen of a hand-sized projection screen, speaking hurriedly into a separate frequency as she converses with their incoming carrier.

"...the fuck you mean tean more minutes!" Crane hisses. "We need that extraction now!"

Nightingale swivels her gun to the left, using the sensors in her scope to seek out the rest of the squad. "Crow, you there?"

The static is broken by coughing. "Y-Yeah..." He replies. "Team, report!"

"I'm alive." Scorpion mutters, giving a cough.

"Not dead yet." Shark makes a spitting noise, either dirt or blood, perhaps both.

"I'm kinda dead..." Pyro's voice is strained. His coughing is wet, alarming his team.

Crane's head snaps down as she reconnects her communication to their carrier. "I need a medical team ready and waiting for extraction!"

"Pyro, report." Crow commands.

More coughing, the sound of liquids on his tongue. "Debris." He hacks again. "Puncture me right in the lung."

"I've found him." Scorpion interrupts, and across the frequency they can hear the sound of creaking armor and grunting as Scorpion helps Pyro stand.

Nightingale curses suddenly. "Those reinforcements are closing in! Get Pyro outta there! We still gotta hold 'em off for six or so minutes."

"Goddammit." Shark snarls, and through the comms they can hear him putting away his assault rifle and pulling out the SMGs he kept at his hips, which he liked to dual-wield in close quarters.

"Nightingale, buy us some time." Crow tells her. "We're regrouping at the nest."

Her answer is the sound of H1 rounds splitting the skies, cracking as the shots hit their marks. The enemy heat signatures scattered as one of their platoon leaders face-planted, a hole through the yonbi's forehead turning into a gaping hole in the back of the ape-looking alien's head.

 _Crack!_

 _Crack!_

 _Crack!_

"Damn, that last yonbi leader keeps dodging." She mutters, eyes squinting into her scope. "You've still got eighteen on your tail!"

"Looks like we'll be joining combat after all." Crane mutters next to her, and catches Nightingale's eye. "Six minutes."

"Six minutes can be an awfully long time." A dry male voice interrupts them from behind.

They whirl around them and see Scorpion standing there with an unconscious Pyro in his arms. The women rush over to the two, Scorpion carefully setting Pyro down on the grass.

"He's lost a lot of blood." Scorpion told them, his voice was devoid of emotion, but there was worry in his eyes.

"Nightingale, there's a medic box in my pack." Crane immediately crouches down and begins to check Pyro's wounds.

Not two seconds later, Crow and Shark show up behind Scorpion, walking backwards with their guns trained on the dark trees behind them.

"This place isn't secure." Crow says as he glances around the shadows cast by the uneven land around them, their position hidden between two of the outcrops, the moon serving as their only light. "We've still got plenty of bogeys behind us."

"If I don't patch up Pyro now, he's dead." Crane snapped, snatching the first aid kit from Nightingale and pulling out a wire and needle.

"Then do it quickly." Nightingale said as she hefted her sniper rifle up and glanced into the scope, scanning the area with her scope, the infrared penetrating through the hillscape and locking onto the approaching heat signatures. "Shit, they're already here."

"How many?" Crow demanded.

"Fifteen."

"Scorpion, stay here and guard Crane and Pyro." Crow ordered. "Shark, Nightingale, with me."

Everyone grunted in acknowledgement, Nightingale dropping her sniper rifle next to Crane and changed weapons to the assault rifle strapped to her back. She and Shark fell into position behind Crow, flanking their captain as the squad of three crouched and went out to meet their enemies.

Crow's eyes began to glow red behind his visor as his genetic enhancements kicked in, his pupils dilating and the irises gleaming crimson as his sight sharpened and pierced the night. He could see the heat signatures of their enemeis, fifteen, one yonbi leader and fourteen ichibi grunts.

"On our eleven and two o'clock."

Nightingale dropped into the shadows and disappeared while Crow and Shark crept up on the first half of the group. Without glancing at each other, they each took different targets.

Crow jerked his chin.

The night was lit by small flares as their guns fired, Shark downing two, Crow taking out the leader with a shot to the chest and one in the head, and then Nightingale jumped out of the shadows and mowed down the rest of the grunts.

Ten targets.

Nine.

Eight.

Nightingale ducked as an ichibi attempted to jump onto her back from behind, grabbing its neck and slamming it into the ground, crushing its head and cracking the ground.

Seven.

Six.

An alien knocked one of Shark's SMGs out of his hand, swiping at him with its claws, but he jumped out of the way, and in a single motion, drew a knife from his armor and rammed it into the alien's chest, slashing down and cutting it open.

Five.

Crow ducked as two energy blasts soared over his head and shot two more without even blinking.

Three.

Nightingale threw a knife into one of the alien's breathing tanks, the gas spewing out as the alien began to wheeze in the foreign atmosphere. At the same moment, Crow fired a single shot from his rifle, and the friction ignited the gas tank, blowing up the last three ichibi.

Zero.

 _*shhhh shhh*_ "Guys!" Crane's voice came online, "The carrier is here! We gotta hurry though! More Bijuu forces incoming!"

Crow, Shark, and Nightingale turned tail and ran back to the rest of the squad, just in time to see a small Fed cruiser touching down not far from them. Not even slowing down as they neared Scorpion, Crane, and Pyro, the squad ran to the extraction cruiser. The vehicle was rising into the air before its hatch had even closed, the wind whipping around the and whistling between the vents in their helmets.

Two medics were already crowding around Pyro, yanking off his armor and skinsuit, pumping the blood out of his lung and setting up a handheld IV.

The hatch closed, but they weren't out of danger yet. The squadron strapped themselves into the seats lining the walls of the cruiser, the medics lifted Pyro onto a table in teh back and strapped him down as well. They wore halters that kept them leashed to the ship as they performed surgery mid-flight. The ship shuddered and veered sharply several times as it avoided enemy combatants, the sound of energy blasts and the whir of bullets echoed into the chamber from the skies outside.

Only when they touched down in the carrier did the Spartans heave a sigh.

Pyro was wheeled into the medical bay while Alpha Team marched into the commander's office. After reporting in, the team returned to the barracks. People stared up at them as they walked by, the legendary Spartan supersoldiers.

The Spartans stood a foot or more taller than the average human. Their armor glinted where the light hit the cracks and dents in the metal plates, their boots landing heavily on the walkways. Even the female Spartans were at least six foot, and the men standing at seven feet tall. They rarely showed their faces to the masses, instead they kept their helmets and armor on, unless they were relaxing in the barracks.

Entering their quarters, the door slid shut, and only then did the soldiers relax, feeling a little more human.

Crow pulled off his helmet first helmet off and set it on his bed, shaking his ebony hair out of his eyes. It was almost two inches longer than regulation, and was the most he could get away with before the commander made him shave it off completely. His eyes glinted red in the light, one of his genetic enhancements provided by ONI.

Shark let out a deep sigh as he rolled his shoulders, blue skin shining with sweat. The blue skin was an unexpected side-effect of the augmentation process, and taking it in stride, Shark had gotten gills tattooed onto his neck and had his teeth sharpened on Mizu. He was the tallest Spartan yet, standing at almost eight feet tall, towering over even his fellow supersoldiers.

Scorpion was already falling into bed, still with his armor on, his curly crimson hair sticking in odd directions. They almost always slept in their armor lately, with the war in full swing and the Federation desperately trying to hold out against the Bijuu. Spartans were called into action at all hours of the day, and with humanity losing the war, they were busier than ever.

Crane walked in with her arm out in front of her, a projection from the device in her forearm flickering with graphs and calculations, her hazel eyes flickering across the information at the speed of light. She paused to take off her helmet, hair so dark it gleamed blue sticking to her face.

"Pyro's gonna live." She told them.

"Che, we knew he would." Shark said gruffly, crossing his arms over his wide chest. "It takes a lot more than a mere flesh wound to take down a Spartan."

Despite this, the atmosphere in the room relaxed.

Nightingale sank down onto her bed and leaned her elbows onto her knees. She sighed, pulled off her helmet, and ran her hands through her short pink hair.

Another battle won.

* * *

 **Federation Year 334**

The horns blasted and crowds cheered as the class of Federation Year 334 walked onto the stage. They were the first graduating class of the New Harvard and AMA merger.

On one side of the stage hung the banner for New Harvard, and on the opposite side of the stage hung the banner for the Ames Military Academy. The stadium shuddered with the throng of people that sat within, families and friends yelling encouraging words as the graduates walked onto the stage. Under the AMA banner stood the military students on risers, standing straight in their neatly pressed, perfectly clean uniforms, chins up, looking straight, stock-still. Across from them, the New Harvard students were less stoic, and were constantly moving as they searched the stands for friendly faces, waving and family, and chattering excitedly to the people next to them.

Somehow, Naruto caught Hinata's eye, even though he was standing with the AMA students and was not allowed to move at all. He winked, and felt his chest warm when she blushed like a tomato. Despite that they had dated all through college (and were secretly engaged), every time Naruto looked at her, it was like falling in love with her all over again.

"You two are disgusting." Sasuke muttered next to him, his eyes forward and lips barely moving.

"Don't be jealous just because you have the emotional capabilities of a brick." Naruto chuckled back.

On the other side of Sasuke, Kiba joined in. "No, I agree with Icecube here. You and Hina are so lovey-dovey I wanna puke."

"Don't make me break rank." Naruto threatened good-naturedly. Four years, and his friends still could not stand to watch Hinata and Naruto fawn over each other.

"Would all of you shut up?" Shikamaru drawled from his position in the stand behind them. "The Sergeant is looking this way.

Even though Shikamaru would have graduated two years before them, the genius had stayed in the college to earn his PhD in Aerospace and Astrospace Engineering (yeah, he's a hardcore nerd). He already had several offers from both the military and contracting research firms, but he already knew where he was head. Like his father before him, Shikamaru was heading in the block ops - as a child his father had told him all about the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) a branch of the Federation that _technically_ did not exist and Shikamaru never planned to work anywhere else but there.

Rumors of ONI supersoldiers (Titans? Olympians? Something like that) had been circulating the space-net for a few years now, and Shikamaru was determined to get his hands on that research. Glancing down, Shikamaru's eyes lingered on a head of platinum blonde hair that stood in the front row of the military students.

Halfway into her college career, Ino had shocked them all by quitting the cheer team and dropping out of New Harvard, and then showing up to the AMA field practice in the morning. The whole campus went into a state of shock when their cheerleading captain suddenly joined the ranks of the military academy.

She broke the space-net when it turned out that she was _damn good_ too. Her first day at practice, the boys made the mistake of going easy on her, and in less than two seconds, she had three full-grown men on their backs and moaning in pain.

As it turns out, her father had been ONI black ops as well, under the _nonexistent_ Torture and Interrogation unit.

Yet somehow, none of her friends were surprised that Ino was the deadliest cheerleader in the galaxy. She had always been wicked smart, perfectionist, and slightly sadistic. Her cheer team could attest to that (although, thanks to her, New Harvard cheer was the best team on the planet).

So now Ino stood with the AMA students at graduation, while Hinata and Sai were the only remaining civilians in their group of friends. Across the stage, Sai leaned over to Hinata and whispered something into her ear. She turned to the crowd and gasped, tears of happiness running down her face when she saw that her older cousin and brother-figure, Hyuuga Neji, had managed to make it to her graduation.

He smiled gently at her, standing straight in his Federation uniform, giving her a small salute. Beside him, her father Hiashi was smiling as well, while her sister Hanabi jumped up and down, waving at her like crazy.

The whine of a microphone shushed the crowd as the New Harvard president walked onto the stage.

"Hello everyone! We are pleased to welcome our students and teachers, friends and family, to the graduation of the New Harvard and AMA class of Fed year 334!" The man spoke. He rambled off into a speech of hope and inspiration, patriotism to the Federation, grand futures for all, blah blah...

"... a special cheer for the students of the Ames Military Academy, who will now be going on to serve in the Federation, in protection of our race against the invading Bijuu."

The stadium became tense as the mention of the war. In the Fed year 330, the Bijuu had become known to the public. The Federation had announced war upon the alien invasion, and while at first many had found it hard to believe, they were forced to confront the truth as colony after colony fell to the Bijuu. Entire worlds simply went silent and stopped contacting the rest of the Federation. It seemed like humanity was fighting a losing war, but they had no choice. It was fight, or extinction.

The Federation had never seen such a surge in recruits. Military academies were outnumbering college 2:1 now, with an almost equal amount of volunteer from both genders. The civil conflict between the outer colonies and the inner colonies no longer mattered (not that there were many outer colonies left now). Humanity was fighting for survival.

The AMA students stood up straighter as their sergeant scanned them, taking the mic from the New Harvard president and addressing his students.

"What you see here," He gestured to the civilian crowd behind him, "Are what we are fighting for. For our friends. For our families. For the right to go to college and not to war. You will not have this right. But if we do not fight against the Bijuu, neither will your children."

The AMA sergeant turned to speak to the crowd. "The brave young men and women that you see before you are the epitome of the human spirit. For generations, humanity has fought for survival, expanding our frontiers and ever-charging towards the horizon. But never have we fought a war with such meaning."

Sniffles were heard in the crowd.

"Tonight these young soldiers will go back to their dorms and pack their bags. In the morning, they will report for duty at the Federation Space Station." He turned back to his students, a heavy look in his eyes. "You will then meet you new family - the soldiers who will stand beside you in defense of our existence. You will see new worlds and you will travel farther across space than you could even imagine."

He paused. "Not all of you will make it back." The stadium fell silent.

"But you will all be in our prayers." The sergeant continued. "And by answering the call of duty, you have made us all proud. As of today, you are all heroes."

Naruto sniffled suspiciously, and in the front row, Ino hardly flinched as tears rolled down her cheeks. Hinata was shamelessly crying into Sai's shoulder.

"And heroes never die."

* * *

 **Federation Year 311 (eighteen years prior to Bijuu Encounter)**

 **:/:/ENCRYPTED - CONFIDENTIAL/:/::/**

 _To: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )_

 _From: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)_

 _Subject: SPARTAN recruit 113_

 _ARE YOU OUT OF YOU FUCKING MIND SENJU?_

 _I OUGHT TO FIRE YOU AND KICK OUT OF BOTH THE MILITARY AND THE ENTIRE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY FOR THIS!_

 _DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WHEN THE UCHIHA FIND OUT ABOUT THIS?_

* * *

 _To: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)_

 _From: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )_

 _Re: Subject: SPARTAN recruit 113_

 _Subject 113 is the ideal participant for the SPARTAN program. He is years beyond his peers both physically and mentally. You gave me free reign to select the recruits who I deemed capable of surviving the testing, and I did. 113 was handpicked by me, the creator of the SPARTAN process, for a reason._

 _The Uchiha will not find out about their son. When my people extracted him - which, by the way, he nearly fought them off, and he was only 5 fed years - they replaced him with an identical and sentient clone._

 _How funny that this is the only instance that you have a problem with kidnapping and replacing with a clone. There were plenty of other SPARTAN subjects who went through the same thing._

* * *

 _To: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )_

 _From: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)_

 _Because the Uchiha family have a monopoly of the weapon trade! That family OWNS the military! You fucking KIDNAPPED THEIR FIRST BORN SON FOR A GENETIC EXPERIMENT!_

 _I demand that you give him back at once!_

 _When I let you choose any child you wanted for this program, I meant those who were insignificant! Orphans, civilians - not the equivalent of fucking Federation royalty!_

* * *

 _To: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)_

 _From: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )_

 _Re: Subject: SPARTAN recruit 113_

 _It's too late. Subject 113 had already had his memories wiped and begun the training program. The Uchiha family already have their son, the clone is a perfect replication of Itachi. In a few years he will die a natural death, and the Uchiha will be none-the-wiser._

 _Subject 113 is no longer their son. He is the property of the Federation._

 _It is done._

* * *

 _To: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )_

 _From: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)_

 _This is the last time, Senju. You might be the most brilliant scientist in the galaxy, but one more incident like this and I'm pulling you out. ALL of you funding and ALL of you experiments will be FROZEN._

 _Continue with your fucking supersoldiers._ _But if the Uchiha ever find out about this, we are leaving you to hang. You will not be protected by the Federation. And the Uchiha will ruin you._

 _So don't fuck up._

* * *

 **/:/::/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL _DOUBLED_ RED/:/::/**

 **/:/:/SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/:/::/**

 **././:/ {Test Subject 256}:/./::/**

 **Origin:** System 954 - Planet 630 - Ame Colony (annihilated)

 **Name:** Konan

 **Code Name:** Crane

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 310 (orphan)

 **Age:** Acquired at 6 Fed. years, currently 29 Fed. years

 **Training:** 83% success rate - 7/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 214 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated

 **Eyes:** Hazel

 **Hair:** Black

 **Height:** Biologically 1.6 m / 5'5ft - After Augmentation 1.8m / 6'3ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 45kg / 100lbs - After Augmentation 70.7kg / 156lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Sniper II - Tactician/Coordinator - Long range combat

 **Comments:** Acceptable in close range combat, but shines when given a scope and a rifle. She's smart, but anit-social. Suggest for AI modification. Request for Beta Squad.

* * *

 **I never knew writing Sci-fi would be so much fun!**

 **Oh please, someone leave a review! I need to know your thoughts!**

 **So, Naruto &Co. are joining the military.**

 **Sakura and the Akatsuki are already Spartans. Thoughts?**

 **And yes, Ino is an ass-whooping space cheerleader. No, I am not ashamed.**

 **~Lilithia**


	3. Chapter 3: When the Bijuu Attack

**Shit, this story is getting way more in-depth than I had planned. These chapters keep getting longer and longer.**

* * *

 _"Your mistake..." She says passionately, emotion finally leaking into her voice. "_ _Is seeing the Spartans as military hardware..."_

* * *

 **Federation Year 335**

It came as no surprise that the Trouble Trio - Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba - were going to try out for special ops. Naruto and Sasuke had always dreamed of joining the elite ranks of Federation military. Kiba had been the only one who was hesitant. For generations his family had served under the Federation's Military Police, both as investigators and inter-planetary bounty hunters. It was his mother (a high ranking and decorated member of the Military Police, also the scariest woman alive) who had finally called him had encouraged him to follow his own path.

But these three were not guaranteed positions in any of the special op programs just yet. They were still in their first year of service, despite all of the training that they had received in the military academy.

The Federation's main base of operations and training was on the planet Konoha. A week's worth of light-year travel from Haven Colony, it was considered a middle colony, not far out enough to be considered an outer colony, but nowhere close to the inner rings of the galaxy.

The planet was one of the largest planets in the Federation, although it had a relatively small population by comparison. It was not an industrial center like Haven or Iwa, rather, it dedicated most of its land to agriculture and mining. The few megacities that it did have were all military-based.

Konoha City was renowned throughout the Federation. It was the center for military weaponizing and industrialization. Given the smaller population of the planet, it was a safe place for the military to keep its classified intelligence and experiments. Lately, however, the Federation had begun transferring its assets from Konoha to Suna Colony, which was located in the inner rings of the galaxy. Due to Konoha's position as a middle colony, and with the Bijuu advancing steadily into their system, it was only a matter of time until they attacked Konoha.

Still, for now the planet continued to serve as the center for military training.

Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, and Ino were all taken to Konoha city to begin their service after graduation. Shikamaru was hardly heard from once ONI had swiped up the little genius. Hinata and Sai remained in Haven, Hinata was preparing to take over her father's company while Sai was steadily becoming a renowned artist on the space-net. Ino saw little of her friends once she was taken in by the Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA), who had recruited her when its head, Morino Ibiki, had recognized her as the daughter of the famous interrogator, Yamanaka Inoichi.

However, today they were having a mini-reunion of sorts. It was just Naruto, Sasuke, Kiba, and Ino, but they had all been sorted in different areas of the military, and so they had seen little of each other in the first year of service. The four of them had met up in a bar in downtown Konoha City, a place that was commonly popular with the GI's.

The boys made it there first, as most of them worked the same hours. The infantry liked to have a moderated and unbreakable schedule, and so it was relatively easy to predict when the three of them would arrive. Ino was another matter. The FIA had a less predictable schedule, and she had called ahead to warn them that she really had no idea when they would let her take off, but rest assured she'd be off sometime between 19:00 and 20:00 hours.

Naruto and Sasuke had arrived together, immediately zeroing in on the head of unruly brown curls and twitching dog ears. Kiba hailed them from the bar and suddenly the three of them were talking as if no time had passed at all. They were sharing beers when Kiba, always on the lookout for a pretty girl, noticed Ino walk in.

He whistled. "Hot damn! You get sexier every year, you know that?"

Naruto and Sasuke swung around on their bar stools to look at Ino as she head over to them. Naruto gave her a large grin and Sasuke an almost-smile.

"Kiba." Ino sounded unimpressed. "You never change."

"Only for you baby -ow!" She flicked his sensitive dog ears.

Naruto chuckled and surprised her by sweeping her into a huge bear-hug. Ino gasped in an 'oof!', and awkwardly patted his head (Man, he was getting really tall!). Sasuke just raised his drink at her. Jerk.

"Wow, you cut your hair!" Naruto tugged teasingly on the short ponytail she now sported. During college, Ino had been the envy of every girl with waist-length platinum blonde hair that was as silky as it was voluminous. She had worn it in a high ponytail, which had trailed after her like a ray of sunshine. While Ino's hair was just as beautiful as ever, she had cut it to shoulder length once she had gone into service so that it would be more manageable.

"You like it?" Ino smiled.

"It's more efficient." Sasuke responded.

Ino scowled and whacked him in the shoulder. "That's not what I meant, baka."

Naruto and Kiba laughed as they sat down at a booth, the four of them ordering a round of fish'n'chips, and another round of beer. Ino ordered a 'galactic margarita', whatever that was. An hour passed in the blink of an eye as the old friends fell into their familiar jokes. Naruto told them how he was planning on marrying Hinata when he got off on leave in the next year, and _but of course_ they were all invited! Kiba talked about how his mother was still in charge of (read: terrorizing) the Military Police force, and men were always coming up to him and asking ' _how the hell do you live with a woman like that as your mother?!_ ' and now the MP officers were more terrified than ever because his older sister, Hana, was entering the force, and boy she was just as bad as their mother! Ino laughed and told them that it was just as bad as her position in the FIA, because apparently her father Inoichi and Ibiki had been the most feared pair of interrogators in the history of the agency, and when people heard her last name, they immediately paled. Sasuke even joined in at one point, talking about how his father and mother had gone on vacation in Suna, and he was in line to receive a promotion soon.

And then -

 _BOOOOOOOOOM!_

People screamed as the ground beneath them rocked like an earthquake, glass shattering as the windows, bottles, and glasses falling to the floor, dust whirling in the air, and their ears popped as the air was suddenly pressurized and a low whine echoed through the city.

"What the-"

They all froze when the sirens went off. On every street, every corner, in every establishment, the sirens shrilled and red lights flashed, and for a moment, the city froze as people understood the gravity of the situation.

Bijuu attack.

"Civilians to the bunkers!" The barman yelled, opening a reinforced steel door that was behind the counter, steps leading downward into an underground network that connected to bunkers filled with nonperishable food and bottled water that could last several months. Immediately civilians were following his instructions, filing two by two into the doorway.

"Report back to base!" Ino hissed to her friends, and they scrambled out into the street.

Outside, the damage almost made them pause. Hover cars were crashed into the ground, some had veered and run into storefronts. The plasterglass sidewalks were cracked, sometimes shattered, and a black plume of smoke, thick and foreboding, was rising from the eastern end of the city. In the sky, Fed cruisers were deploying, 09-Pelicans with their thick hulls and mac cannons, and the faster fighter jets, the F11-Vulture and the A57-Sabers, swooping in and engaging Bijuu crafts.

The Pelicans immediately began engaging dropships, in an attempt to prevent any Bijuu from touching down on the city. While the civilians entered the underground bunkers, the streets were filled with Fed soldiers that had been off-base, Naruto, Ino, Kiba, and Sasuke joining them as they raced back to base. Several Federal emergency hovercrafts zoomed through the streets, picking up the soldiers who needed transport back to base.

The friends jumped onto one, and they were off. Below the benches in the hovercraft were cabinets filled with emergency supplies: spare handguns, medic packs, minimum armor vests, and most importantly, communication devices. It didn't seem like much, but in the middle of an ambush, it was a godsend. Soldiers immediately began donning the vests and stashing medical supplies in their pockets, and everyone picked up a handgun and armed it.

A Bijuu fighter ship swooped out of the sky.

 _crackle crackle crackle_ \- "Energy blast! Get down!" - _BOOM!_

Naruto and Sasuke were thrown out of the hovercraft as a Bijuu ship blasted it, Ino and Kiba jumping off before it had hit. Several of their fellow soldiers were burned or dead, and the hovercraft had lost its engine.

Sasuke cursed as he stumbled back up. Ino and Kiba were already jumping over to the hovercraft and checking for survivors. Sasuke glanced around for Naruto.

"Shit!"

He turned around and saw Naruto running towards him from an alleyway.

"Ino! Kiba!" Naruto yelled as he stopped next to Sasuke. He faced the three of them as Ino and Kiba ran over, holding up his comm device. "The Bijuu have touched down in the city."

Kiba swore and Ino gasped, covering her mouth with the hand that wasn't holding a pistol. Sasuke's eyes darkened and he glanced around, as if the Bijuu were going to jump out of the shadows at any moment.

"They've infiltrated the east side." Naruto said, the comms device spitting white noise, interspersed with voices as Federation soldiers communicated.

Ino grabbed her own comms device and began tinkering with it.

"What are you doing?" Kiba hissed. "We don't have time for that - we gotta get out!"

Ino shrugged him off. "I know the frequency for the higher ups!" They stared at her. "This way we get to hear the important intel, not the like the common frequencies with everyone panicking and screaming nonsense."

"Do I wanna know how you got this information?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her.

Ino smirked. "I'm my father's daughter."

At that moment she clicked her comms device, and the static went still.

 _"This is Konoha Colony to Federation! The Bijuu have attacked! I repeat the Bijuu have attacked!"_

"Gee, never would have guessed." Kiba drawled as the four of them began making their way down the street, standard diamond formation. They were in the middle of the city, under attack but not yet encountering enemies.

A hovercraft began to approach them after Naruto waved them down, and they filed in beside the other soldiers. Like them, these men and women were also dressed for off-duty, with their only protection being the temporary armored vests and a handgun. People were listening in to the comms devices, trying to figure out what the situation was.

 _"This is Federation acknowledging Konoha Colony. We already have support en route. Special ops teams heading your way."_

"Oh shit, they're sending in the special ops?" Naruto's eyes gleamed excitedly.

Sasuke elbowed him in the stomach. "Idiot! That means things are a lot worse than we thought!"

"Bijuu!"

Someone else yelled, and suddenly everyone on the transport had their gun up and pointed out. They could see, through the alleyways a couple streets down, the gleaming bluish-purple armor of the Bijuu as they stalked down the streets, shooting everyone in their path.

"Oh my god." Someone else whispered. "They've touched down..."

The hovercraft began to go faster, but they could still see the Bijuu forces sweeping through the city. Most of the civilians had gone down into the bunkers, but not all of them had made it. There were still people running around in panicked crowds, and the Nibi elites were cutting them down easily. There were six to eight Ichibi grunts to every Nibi or Yonbi platoon leader

"We're not gonna make it to base." Ino said darkly, flicking off the safety to her pistol and tightening the straps on her vest.

"Ino, what are you doing?" Sasuke asked her warily.

She glanced at the soldiers around them, making eye contact with as many as she could. "Those civilians need our help. And I'm not going to run away and let them be slaughtered like cattle."

A couple of the other GIs around them glanced at each other and nodded. Ino looked at her friends. Naruto and Kiba grinned roguishly and Sasuke muttered under his breath.

"It's against regulation."

"Sasuke, don't be a bastard." Naruto told him.

One of the other soldiers at the front of the hovercraft leaned over and flicked off the engine. The craft powered down and the soldiers leapt out. Ino immediately took charge.

"I need a couple of you to break off and find a bunker door that's still open. Another group is going to escort civilians to wherever a bunker door is open." She turned to her boys with an evil smile. "We are going to hold off the Bijuu while the civilians escape. You ready for our first field action?"

"Believe it!" Naruto cheered while Sasuke and Kiba smirked.

"Diamond formation." She said. Sasuke took point, Ino in the rear, and Naruto and Kiba took flank. Ino turned to look at a couple of the soldiers. "You four! Same formation, fall behind us!"

The soldiers saluted and they began to creep through the streets, guns up and feeling out of their league. None of them were from the same squad or platoon, since most of them were just soldiers that had been scattered by the attack, so their teamwork was off due to unfamiliarity.

"Bijuu forces closing in." Naruto said as he listened in on his comms device.

"Get ready!" Ino called over her shoulder to the team behind her.

The first sign of the Bijuu was the sound of energy blasts. _Crackle crackle crackle ZOOM!_

"Get down!" Sasuke yelled, and everyone ducked as the blast went over their heads.

"Take cover!" Kiba ordered (no one was really in charge at this point, save for Ino, and even she wasn't of a particular rank).

Everyone leapt out of the way, hiding behind overturned hover cars and alley corners. A platoon of Bijuu entered the street, a Nibi leader and six Ichibi grunts. Without needing prompting, the Federation soldiers began to fire. Ino was crouched down behind a car, firing two shots at a time, and then ducking back down.

They exchanged fire back and forth before a familiar and most welcome whine entered their range of hearing.

"It's a Vulture!" Someone yelled with a laugh.

The F-11 swooped down, the sleek body angling between the high-rises, following the street, raining down bullets upon the Bijuu platoon. They could just barely make out the shape of the pilot saluting them as they sped off, the soldiers on the street cheering for the small victory.

 _CRASSSSSSHHHH!_

"Holy hell..." Kiba gaped, staring upwards as an alien ship slammed into on of the skyscrapers.

"It's coming down!" Ino screamed, and soldiers began running down the street as the skyscraper tipped and began to fall over.

Glass rained down on them, paper and dust fluttered down and filled the air. Above them, the sky was still alight with battle between Federation jets and Bijuu fighter cruisers. A large Bijuu mothership was slowly but surely making its way into the city, its plasma cannons glowing and raining down upon the streets.

Ino shrieked as one of the blasts exploded a nearby city block, incinerating several buildings and any poor soul that had still been inside. The blast knocked her off of her feet and she slammed into a window across the street, the broken shards tearing into her back.

Sasuke immediately went after her, jumping through the open window and crouching next to her. "Ino?! Ino!"

"Shit, that's a lot of blood." Naruto panted as he followed, Kiba right behind him.

"We need to keep moving..." Ino gasped through the pain, her eyes flickering wildly, a sign of a concussion.

Sasuke hauled her into his arms, and glanced back at Naruto and Kiba.

"We got your back." Kiba assured him.

They were back into the streets, attempting, mostly unsuccessfully, to avoid the areas of conflict where Bijuu platoon and Federation soldiers clashed. Keeping to the alleyways, Naruto lead them while Kiba brought up the rear, Sasuke and Ino helpless as he carried her. She was desperately trying to stay conscious, but Sasuke could feel the arm he had under her back was covered in her blood, and it wasn't stopping anytime soon.

"Oh God."

They paused as the alley exited into a city square. In the middle of it was a huge firefight between Bijuu and Federation. Soldiers from either side took cover behind potted plants and garden walls, the fountain in the middle had caught a grenade and now water was spewing haphazardly.

"Oi!" One of the Federal soldiers hailed them, standing on the half of the square that the Federation soldiers were holding. "Looks like you have injured."

Sasuke dipped his chin at Ino.

"Yeah, get her over here!" The man yelled. "We have transport coming! We'll cover you!"

The group ducked their heads as they ran into the square, bullets flying over their heads as Federation soldiers kept the Bijuu at bay. Kiba hissed as he was nicked on the cheek, but it was just a bullet burn, not serious. Naruto and Kiba joined the firefight while Sasuke and Ino made it over to where several other injured were propped against a building, two hover cars pushed together in front of them so that the Bijuu didn't get a shot.

Ino whimpered as Sasuke set her down. A field medic rushed over and began to give her some morphine, sitting her up and propping her forehead on Sasuke's shoulder while he looked over her back.

"We need to take this off." The medic ordered, and Sasuke helped him un-clip Ino's armor vest and slide off her uniform shirt. She was wearing a sports bra underneath, not that decency really mattered at this point. The medic wiped the blood off of her back, Ino growling as her cuts began to sting. Then she screamed as the medic sprayed disinfectant, digging her nails into Sasuke's arms.

"How does it look?" She asked him, panting.

Sasuke was pale as he glanced down her back. "Not good." He muttered. The window shards had sliced her back into ribbons, far worse than he had initially guessed.

"Nothing damaging." The medic told her as he wiped a salve across the wounds, though the sting was nothing compared to that alcohol spray. "It'll scar, but it'll heal completely."

Ino let out an amused huff. "First year and I already have battle scars." She muttered into Sasuke's shoulder as the medic hastily wrapped gauze around her torso.

"Reinforcements!" Someone yelled from the front of the fight. From the sound of panic in their voice, it wasn't Federation reinforcements.

Sasuke cursed and stood up, glancing over the hover cars and seeing an entirely new wave of Bijuu entering from across the square. Two platoons with Yonbi leaders, twelve Ichibi grunts, and -

"Sanbi! Fuck!" Someone else swore.

Ichibi were a pain, Nibi and Yonbi were hard to kill, but the Sanbi hunters were nearly impossible. The creatures stood nearly nine feet tall, dressed in a heavy armor shell with plasma cannons built into one arm, and a sheild built into the other. The only way to kill them was to somehow bypass all that armor plating and hit them in their soft fleshy faces.

"We're so dead..."

"Shut your whore mouth, marine!"

Naruto and Kiba glanced back as Sasuke joined them.

"Yep, were dead." Kiba muttered as the Sanbi began to glow, powering up their plasma cannons.

"Everybody duck!"

 _SHHHHHHOOOOOOMMMMM!_

A green light lit the square as the cannon shot off, incinerating on of the hover cars. Naruto grabbed Sasuke and Kiba, and then dragged them away from the line back to where the injured were. The two fields medics in attendance had already started dragging the injured into a nearby building. Another plasma cannon went off and by the grace of unholy luck, hit one of the hover cars right in the engine.

 _BOOM!_

The boys were thrown into the air along with several other soldiers from the resulting explosion. Kiba went sailing into a door, landing in a heap of wood splinters and glass, yet somehow not impaling himself. Naruto collided with a brick wall and slumped to the ground. Sasuke knocked into another hovercar, sliding across the hood, and face-planting into the pavement.

He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the throbbing pain of his skinned cheek and back. Glancing up he saw Naruto unconscious and on the ground. Sasuke hurried over to his friend, cursing when he saw the blood on the wall, and then the bloodstained hair on Naruto. Definitely concussion.

"Please be alive." Sasuke muttered as he pressed his fingers into Naruto's neck. There was a pulse, and then another. Sasuke's shoulders sagged in relief.

There was a scream behind him, which was suddenly silenced by the sound of an energy blast. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see several grunts filing down the street, shooting the Federation soldiers who had fallen from the blast before they could get back on their feet.

And behind them, the Sanbi.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Sasuke growled as he dragged Naruto away, but he was fast enough. One of the Ichibi shot him in the leg, and he fell to one knee, pulling out his pistol and shoot the little fucker in the face. It's partner became angered, but before it could finish him, another shot killed it.

Kiba stumbled out of the doorway, wiping blood from his mouth. "Yeah, fuck you." He kicked the body.

But the Sanbi were still walking down the street, mowing down the soldiers that tried to stop them.

Kiba scrambled over to Sasuke and the unconscious Naruto. "Where's Ino?" He gasped.

"Dunno." Sasuke bit out, struggling to stand.

"No, no," Kiba shook his head, blinking fast. "No she can't be -"

 _Zoooom!_

He ducked as another blast went by. The Sanbi were getting closer. Another blast, and Kiba was knocked back onto the ground. Now they were all down, Naruto out for the count, Sasuke unable to stand, and Kiba struggling to to sit up as bile filled his throat from hitting his head yet again.

"No..." Sasuke hissed as a Yonbi platoon leader leapt over a hover car and stood over him, energy gun raised.

He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for it to end.

 _POW!_

The Yonbi flew back as something punched it in the face, sending it flying back.

Sasuke's eyes flew open.

Standing above him was a soldier in armor that he'd never seen before.

The sound of feet landing on pavement.

More soldiers in armor dropped into the street, a pelican cruiser hovering overhead where they had exited. How they even jumped down so far without breaking their legs, he couldn't understand. Their faces were hidden by reflective visors, their body encased in mesh and armor plating. They stood a head above the average human, their genders indistinguishable.

More landed and immediately began to let loose a string of bullets, while the soldier above Sasuke went after the Yonbi they had punched, jumping onto the alien before it got up and slashing a knife into its neck. The soldier stood up and retrieved their assault rifle from their back.

Saved.

They were saved.

Sasuke sighed and let his head fall back.

"Spartan team!" One of the soldiers yelled through his helmet. "Sanbi! Formation Alpha!"

The team dropped into formation like a machine clicking into place, moving together as one body. The Ichibi grunt actually _screamed_ when they saw these so-called 'Spartans', and the Yonbi leader growled. The Sanbi stomped, shaking the ground beneath them, as if digging into the ground against the force of these supersoldiers.

 _Crack!_

The aliens jumped in fright at the sound of a sniper rifle, their remaining Yonbi leader crumpling with a hole in his face. Sasuke glanced up and saw another of those 'Spartan' soldiers had landed on the rooftops, currently reloading their H1.

The Spartans leapt forward, engaging the Bijuu fearlessly. They cut through the Ichibi like a knife through butter, mowing them down effortlessly. The largest of them had somehow maneuvered behind the Sanbi and jumped onto its back, nearly as big as the monster. He clutched a grenade in one hand and punched it into the sensitive flesh of the creature's neck, embedding it underneath the armor.

The Spartan jumped off just as the grenade went off. The Sanbi screamed as it was torn to pieces from within.

Its partner roared in rage, stomping its feet and bulldozing one of the Spartans. The soldier seemed unfazed by the hit, their teammates driving the remaining Sanbi away with gunfire as the Spartan got to its feet.

 _Crack! Crack!_ The last Sanbi fell as the sniper shot it twice in the face.

There was a collective sigh of relief.

The Spartans began to help the survivors as a Pelican dropped down into the square. Federation soldiers streamed out to begin helping the injured. The Spartans effortlessly lifted the injured and carried them into the ship's hull. He saw one of the smaller Spartans (smaller being relative, because they were still six-foot-something) go into on of the broken storefront and come out with Ino in their arms. Ino gave the person behind the visor a tentative smile, wincing a little as her back stung.

One of them, with the number '113' emblazoned on his chest, knelt next to Sasuke and picked him up. Sasuke felt like a child in the arms of these 'Spartans', they were just so tall and huge! Darkness closed in, and he surrendered at last to the urge to sleep, finally out of the fight.

He didn't hear a voice emerge from the helmet.

 _"Brother..."_

* * *

"WHAAAAAAT?"

Sasuke groaned. Even in the infirmary, he still woke up to the sound of Naruto's annoying whining.

"Sorry, Sasuke." Kiba's voice chimed. "I told him about our rescue. Didn't realize he had enough strength to scream like that."

"Ugh, Naruto shut up." Sasuke opened his eyes, wincing at the light and rubbing the side of his face that didn't have road burn on it.

"Sasuke, you don't understand!" Naruto flailed in his hospital bed, oddly energetic despite the bandages wrapped around his cranium. "A super-awesome, mega-cool special ops team swooped in and saved us and _I missed everything_!"

Kiba sighed. "Naruto, seriously, calm down before you wake the other patients."

They were back at base, it seemed, in the infirmary wing. Naruto and Sasuke were lying down in hospital beds, while Kiba had gotten away with just a minor concussion. The Inuzuka kid had a couple of bandages here and there, but there had been no need to put him in a hospital bed.

Sasuke's leg had been hit by an energy blast, so the doctors had had to synthesize new flesh (essentially re-grow his leg) where a hole had been burned all the way through his thigh. He winced every time he shifted, as the new nerves in his thigh were still sensitive. His right side had skidded across the pavement, so his arm was bandaged, his back was bandaged, and his cheek was red.

Naruto had had the worst concussion of the three, obviously since he'd been knocked out. He'd undergone some minor surgeries in order to retrieve some pieces of shrapnel that he had picked up sometime during all of the fighting.

"Oh those guys?" Sasuke drawled, teasing Naruto with a smirk.

"Yes, yes!" The blonde said excitedly. "Tell me everything about them!"

"They're called Spartans."

They all looked up to see Ino as a nurse wheeled her in on a wheel chair.

Kiba scrambled out of the chair next to Naruto's bed and rushed over to her. "Thank God you're okay." He breathed, leaning down to hug her.

Sasuke stared at the wheelchair. "Are you...?"

"Don't worry." Ino rolled her eyes and shooed away her nurse. "They just don't want me to walk around for a while. The shards that I landed on tore my back pretty deeply. Nothing permanent, but it'll take a while to fully heal."

The boys sighed in relief. Ino was like a sister to them, and they took her safety rather personally.

"So wait," Naruto perked up. "You know who those special ops guys were?"

"Obviously not their identity." Ino said, then she smirked. "But I've gleaned a few things. They're a part of the SPARTAN program, and while most of it is very 'hush-hush', there are a few general facts that I managed to gather. The Spartans are some sort of supersoldier - and while no one has said anything officially about genetic enhancement, there's no way those six-foot and seven-foot monstermen are natural."

"Six or seven feet tall?" Kiba squeaked.

Ino nodded. "It's ONI - you know, the Federation military branch that _doesn't exist_." Her eye glimmered in amusement. "We were rescued by the best of the best. They are our best weapon against the Bijuu."

Sasuke eyed the blonde woman with a critical eye. "You're scary sometimes, you know that?" He said. "This 'ONI' would kill you if they realized that you managed to put that much together."

"Or hire me." Ino winked.

"How much you wanna bet that those are the people that hired Shikamaru?" Naruto chuckled.

Their eyes widened at the realization.

"Man, now I'm _definitely_ trying out for special ops." Kiba said with a low whistle. Sasuke and Naruto nodded. Surprisingly, Ino also nodded.

Naruto's stomach growled loudly, a second later, Kiba's echoed his.

Ino chuckled under her breath. "C'mon boys, lets get some chow."

"They haven't been cleared for release yet." Kiba frowned.

Sasuke and Naruto both snorted.

"Since when do we willingly stay in the hospital?" Sasuke said in a snarky voice. He and Naruto were already unplugging themselves from various machines, while Kiba grabbed the handles of Ino's wheelchair and turned her around.

Walking into the hallways of the base, they looked around to see the damage. Out of the windows, the base overlooked the city. Most of the buildings were smoking or burned, several city blocks were nothing more than ash from the plasma cannons, and a few skyscrapers had collapsed. There were still fighter jets flying around the city, but the immediate danger had passed.

People were in various states of hurry as they walked through the halls of the base. Some were walking leisurely, mostly the injured who were enjoying their hard-won victory. A couple of paper pushers were running back and forth between offices, no doubt reporting to the Federation and calculating damage costs.

They paused by a window-lined wall that overlooked the hangars, looking down at the soldiers rushing around, the jets and cruisers with scratched and smoking hulls, cracked windows and flickering lights.

The doors down the hall hissed and slid open. The cadets froze when they saw who entered.

 _Thud._

Metal boots echoed loudly in the corridor.

 _Thud._

Their armor was worn, chipped, and scratched.

 _Thud._

Visors glint, faces hidden.

They didn't seen human. Other soldiers froze upon seeing the large soldiers walking in, taller than anyone else on the base. The shortest of them was at least six feet tall.

The way they walked was the most distinguishable aspect to Ino. They walked slowly, standing tall, heads up, proud. Yet their slow walk was not lazy, or leisurely, but rather as if the world weighed heavily upon them, and each step was just another road traveled, another mission completed, another battle fought, the sacrifices of those before them in each landing.

They were beautiful but... somehow tragic.

The Spartans passed them, the world holding its breath.

 _087_

The Spartan glanced at them, and Ino could feel their gaze through the impenetrable visor. She felt her skin crawl, and a fire ignited within her. And she decided then and there, that she would join them.

She would be a Spartan.

* * *

 _"His file read 'Missing In Action'." She says determinedly._

 _The man scoffs. "Because 'Spartans Never Die'?"_


	4. Chapter 4: Generations

**/:/::/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/::/**

 **/:/:/SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/:/::/**

 **././:/ {Test Subject 136}:/./::/**

 **Origin:** System 096 - Planet 154 - Suna Colony

 **Name:** Sasori

 **Code Name:** Scorpion

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 309 (orphan)

 **Age:** Acquired at 6 Fed. years, currently 30 Fed. years

 **Training:** 87% success rate - 8/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 233 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated

 **Eyes:** Hazel

 **Hair:** Red

 **Height:** Biologically 1.6 m / 5'5ft - After Augmentation 1.9m / 6'5ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 47kg / 105lbs - After Augmentation 90.8kg / 201lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Weapon Engineer/Hacker - Close/Medium range combat

 **Comments:** Cruel, ruthless, efficient, but extremely rash and impatient. Good for a potential assassin, but not for team missions. He has absolutely no regard for the lives of others, seeing them as specimens rather than comrades. Completely antisocial, recommend socialization therapy or AI adjustment. Mentally unstable after Augmentation, prone to killing sprees.

* * *

 _"Why do you follow them?" A boy with the number '113' stitched onto his chest asked the young girl next to him._

 _She was a little thing, far too small for a future soldier. He had been horrified to see this tiny girl with a head of brown fuzz, freshly shaved like the rest of them, when she had entered their training base. But then he saw her green eyes, flashing with cold fire, determination, and anger. Despite her size, she fought like a rabid animal, tooth and nail, capable of bringing down men twice her size._

 _"Why not?" She snapped as she practically pounced on the meal before them, gulping down the vegetables so fast he wondered if she had even bothered to chew them._

 _"They took us from our homes." 113 said to 087._

 _The girl glanced up at him as she sunk her teeth into a hunk of meat and ripped it away from the bone like a starving animal. "Yeah, so?"_

 _The boy paused, anxiously reaching up to run his hand through his hair in a nervous habit. He paused when he remembered that they had shaved his head too. They had shaved everyone's hair. Sometimes he couldn't tell the boys from the girls. 087 was easily recognizable due to her eyes, bright as emeralds and just as cold and hardened as the gemstone. It was a startling look to see in a girl so young._

 _"Don't you miss your parents? A sibling maybe?" 113 asked her._

 _The girl paused in her rabid eating habits to look at him, the full weight of her attention making him uncomfortable. "You had a family?"_

 _113 blinked at her odd question. "Yes."_

 _"Huh. Lucky bastard." She scoffed, and the boy reddened at her coarse language. Pushing away her empty plate, she gestured to the rest of the kids around them, sitting in rows upon rows in the cafeteria, chattering among each other. But unlike most kids their age, no one was screaming, or shouting, or fighting. Their faces showed a maturity seldom seen among children their age, and many of them had eyes just as hardened and ruthless as hers._

 _"Most of us were orphans. Children of the civil war." She said to 113. A sneer crossed her cherub-like face, twisting it with hatred. "Stupid goddamned resistance. They fight for independence, only to bankrupt their cities and divide their societies. Our parents go off to war or go spend what little they have on fuckin' drugs and alcohol, and leave us to fend for ourselves. We're street urchins, most of us. Can't survive without street smarts. Mercy will get ya killed."_

 _087 picked up her water bottle and chugged it all down in one go._

 _"Then... why did they choose me?" She heard 113 say softly._

 _"Not everyone here is an orphan. A lot of them were snatched." 087 peered at him curiously. "Their memories were wiped though. It's odd that you somehow still remember the life you had before."_

 _113 remained silent._

 _"Besides, this is a better life than I would have gotten back in the colonies. Clean food, shelter, and I get to learn how to fight." She paused and looked at her hands, her voice lowering. "I have a reason to exist."_

 _087 stood up with her tray in hand, pausing next to 113. Even with him sitting down, she was barely taller than his shoulder. "There's no going back now."_

 _Before she could walk away to return her tray to the counter, 113 grabbed her hand. She stiffened, unused to human contact. Resisting the urge to yank her hand from his, the girl turned around and regarded him warily._

 _"Can..." 113 fought the urge to blush. "Can we be friends?"_

 _087 studied him for a long moment before she scoffed. "Befriending the dead is worthless."_

 _She shook off his grip and turned to walk away._

 _"But if you survive the Augmentation, I'll rethink you're offer."_

 _113 smiled. It was as good a 'yes' as he'd ever get from her._

* * *

"Did'ya hear?" Scythe's obnoxious voice echoed through the room as he burst in.

All at the same time, the sleeping Spartans aimed their guns at the intruder at the door. Scythe narrowed his eyes. Half of them looked like they were still asleep! How were they expecting to shoot someone with their eyes closed?

"Oi, calm ya tits." Scythe drawled. "It's just me."

* _blam!_ *

Scythe ducked as a bullet flew over his head. "I said it was me, goddammit!"

"All the more reason to shoot." Scorpion said, eyes closed. He was curled up under the bed sheets, the only visible part of him was from the nose up... and the arm that extended out from under his pillow, holding his pistol.

Scythe gawked at the redhead. "Did you seriously just fucking shoot at me with your fuckin' eyes closed? You little fucker!"

"Oi, if you don't turn down the fuckin' volume I'm seriously gonna shoot you too, yeah!" Pyro griped, pulling his pillow over his head.

A couple other voices made various grunts in agreement as Spartan Team Alpha Blue burrowed further into their respective beds. Only half of them bothered to tuck their pistols back under their pillows. A few, like Nightingale, Shark, and Crane, merely flicked the safety back on and curled back up with their guns in hand. One of the figures at the end of the row of beds stood up and approached the man at the door.

"Scythe." The monotone voice of the team's captain interrupted the other Spartan's fuming. "What are you doing here?"

"Do I need a fucking reason to visit my own team?" Scythe griped.

Crow sighed, placing a hand on his hip and running the other through his hair. "It's our first day off in months. We need the sleep."

"If he stays any longer to talk, either do it outside or I'm gonna shoot him." Crane's voice was a low alto, scratchy from sleep. "And I won't miss."

Crow sighed and gave Scythe an apologetic look. "Give us a couple more hours of sleep. We'll be down to the cafeteria around lunchtime."

Scythe grumbled under his breath. "Fine. Don't be late. There's some serious shit goin' down."

"Is it an emergency?" Crow asked him.

Scythe shook his head. "Nah, but ONI is up to its old tricks again. And I know you guys will wanna know before shit hits the fan."

Crow nodded, wondering what ONI was up to this time. Scythe left the room, the door making a soft whirring sound as it slid open, and then slid shut. Crow made a low groan in the back of his throat, barely discernible, but he had no doubt each of his team members had heard it. Most of them had settled back into bed, quickly falling into a deep sleep, although they were capable of being up and ready for battle in a split second.

The room was dark as he made his way back to his bed, the only light was the stars which filtered in through the portholes of the Federation ship as it drifted in orbit of Konoha Colony. His feet were silent, not even his clothes rustled as he crawled back into bed.

Just as he closed his eyes, he felt a familiar presence sneak into bed with him.

"Hey Birdy." He whispered, kissing the top of her pink head.

She hummed and snuggled closer to him.

Their team was perfectly aware of the illegal relationship between their team leaders. Soldiers were not allowed to fraternize within their cells, let alone Spartans. The Spartans weren't supposed to have relationships at all, in fact. But the kinship of the Spartans ensured that no one would be revealing their secret anytime soon, and Alpha team was loyal to a fault. Most of the Spartan teams knew that there was something going on between Crow and Nightingale, but no one ever talked about it. It was an unspoken secret that they would rather take to the grave than reveal to ONI.

After all, love was a luxury most Spartans would never know.

* * *

While there was never really a 'night' and 'day' time on spaceships, most ships kept a mock clock that ensured that the cafeterias offered regular mealtimes. While the ship they were on, the Creation, was a ship that specialized in lodging special force teams, there was a distinct separation between the regular crew and the special ops teams. Which was understandable, considering that not only were the Spartans socially inept, but they hated to show their faces to the public - even if their names and identities were a secret.

Alpha Team Blue rose around 12:00, which was considered 'lunch time' on the ship despite the lack of day and night. They had slept for ten hours after being deployed to Konoha City to fight off the invasion. Several other Spartan teams had been deployed into Konoha City as well, their sister unit - Alpha Team Red - being one of them. Sister units meant that on larger missions - say an alien invasion - the two teams would be merged as one large squadron, and were prepared to do so at a moment's notice. The members of Alpha Team Blue and Alpha Team Red had trained together before any of them had been assigned to an official team. Therefore the two teams were easily interchangeable, and often thought of themselves as one large team that just split up on smaller missions.

Alpha Team Red consisted of codenames Scythe, Greed, Pierce, Sage, Cleaver, and Rabbit. Alpha Team Blue was the darker side of the Alpha Spartans. They were the team that only ever received suicide missions (whereas Alpha Red was also used on rescue and infiltration), and they preferred it that way. Scythe and Greed, nicknamed the 'Zombie Twins' due to their regenerative abilities and love of suicide missions, were the wild cards of the first Spartan generation. The Augmentation seemed to have completely unhinged their minds, although Scythe was much more vocal about it. Greed was silent, but when he snapped, he could go on a killing rampage.

Pierce was the unofficial leader of the group, at least, when Crow or Nightingale were not there to take charge. Pierce was rather easygoing compared to his teammates - he was lighthearted, cared for his teammates, and was the only one who could beat down Scythe with a smile on his face. His unofficial beta leader was Sage, who was a serious and quiet person, but had a nerve of steel. Not even Greed would ever risk Sage's ire.

After a failed mission two years back that resulted in the death of two of their squad mates, their team had been assigned two other Spartans, Cleaver and Rabbit. Cleaver fit in perfectly with the infamous Alpha Red, just as bloodthirsty and mentally unstable as the rest of them. Rabbit, however, was quite a different matter. Rabbit was small for a male Spartan, often mistaken for a female Spartan. He was the youngest of the first Spartan generation (earning him the nickname 'Baby'), quiet, soft-spoken, and extremely polite. At first the team leaders had been worried that Rabbit was more likely to be killed by his wild teammates than a Bijuu, but after Scythe had taunted him one too many times, Rabbit proved that he was not only extremely fast, but also precise, paralyzing Scythe for over a week.

Cleaver had taking a liking to the smaller Spartan after that (he and Scythe never got along) and the two were often partners on missions. Nightingale adored the youngest of the Spartans, and shamelessly doted on him, much to Crow's dismay.

And so, as the sliding doors opened to admit the Blue team, a streak of pink shot through the crack between the doors.

"Rabbit-kuuuuun~" Nightingale sang as she lunged for his back.

Now, Rabbit had very good reflexes, but he had learned long ago that it was futile to attempt to evade the second-best Spartan on the force. He'd learned to enjoy the affection she shamelessly showered upon him, and took smug satisfaction in seeing the dirty looks Crow would send him when he thought she wouldn't see. And so without further ado, Rabbit braced for impact.

"Oomph!"

Nightingale landed on his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a loud kiss on his cheek. Rabbit burned bright tomato red, while his team snickered in the background and Crow glared a hole into the back of his head.

"How's my Baby been?" She cooed.

"U-Um..." Rabbit stuttered.

Cleaver snorted. "I think he's short-circuited again."

"Give the boy a break." Pierce grinned devilishly, "Nightingale is the closest a woman has ever come to him, the poor thing."

Rabbit felt himself heat up even further. Over his head, Nightingale shot the two older Spartans 'the look' - which meant if they didn't shut up _now_ , she would remind them why she was more feared than Crow, despite her being second-place. Crow almost never lost his temper, and would never attack another Spartan. Nightingale was another matter - she was a tempest and was not afraid to completely destroy a man if they did not bow to her (yes, even Crow was wary of her temper).

Crane huffed when Cleaver and Pierce paled in the face of Nightingale's glare of death. Pierce's eyes shot towards her and a goofy grin lit his face.

"My darling!"

Crane dodged his hug and smirked when he went sailing past her and into the floor. Sage approached them, shaking his head at their leader's antics.

"I can't believe he's the guy that keeps us in line, sometimes." Sage said dryly.

"Only because you're not willing to step up and discipline the Zombie Twins." Crane chided him.

"Why waste my time when I have this idiot to do all of the work?" Sage asked blandly.

Pierce jumped up and glared at them, pointing an accusing finger at Sage. "You mean you've been using me all this time?" He cried in a dramatic voice, clutching his wounded heart.

"Yes." Sage deadpanned. Crane's lips twitched in an almost-smile.

Meanwhile, Shark and Cleaver had broken out the alcohol, passing out beer bottles to most of the men. Crow made eye contact with Pierce, and the leader of the Red team approached the leader of the Blue team. They left their teams to make small talk while the two of them had a private conversation in a corner of the room.

"I suppose we should break the news before they get too comfortable." Pierce said to him.

Crow crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Does anyone else know, besides your team?"

Pierce shook his head. "We kinda... found out by accident."

Crow lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Y'know how Sage likes to snoop around..." Pierce shrugged. "He and Sasori like to keep tabs on ONI. So... Sage keeps a little something in the ONI networks that activates upon keywords."

"Anything I should be worried about?" Crow asked.

Pierce shook his head. "Just wait. You'll see."

Crow followed Pierce into the middle of the room, the Red team leader standing in front of the widescreen tv that was molded into the window. The Blue team leader sat down next to Nightingale, her worried eyes questioning him. Crow glanced at Pierce, and Nightingale nodded in understanding.

"Alright kids, gather around!" Pierce called out.

The socializing came to a halt, and then it was abandoned with annoyed grumbling, most of the Spartans coming to stand behind the long, semi-circle couch which took up the center of the room. Sage, Crane, and Scorpion approached and sat on the cushions, opposite Rabbit, Nightingale, and Crow, while the rest of them continued to stand and drink.

"It's nice to see the other half of our team, after so long." Pierce greeted Alpha Blue."But we aren't gathered here to make small-talk. We're here because Alpha Red has discovered important intel that we felt was necessary to make known to Alpha Blue."

"Oh this shit!" Scythe suddenly exclaimed loudly. "You'll never believe -ack!"

Greed growled, jabbing his partner in the neck with a knife hand."Shut up."

"B-bast...ard..." Scythe wheezed.

Pierce nodded at Greed in thanks, giving Scythe a dirty look before continuing. He glanced at each Spartan in the eye, the normally carefree expression on his was turned stoic.

"There is going to be a Generation Two."

At first, there was stunned silence.

Crow sat up straighter and spoke softly. "Are you saying... that ONI is making more Spartans?"

Pierce nodded.

Nightingale let out a heavy breath. "Oh my."

"That's a good thing... right?" Rabbit asked aloud.

"I suppose." Pierce answered him. "Spartans have always been in short supply. Not to mention that not many survive the process."

"Are they starting with children, like they did with us?" Nightingale tilted her head.

"Er, let's get the expert up here." Pierce gestured to his beta.

This time Sage joined Pierce at the front, pulling up a projection screen from a comm device he kept on his arm at all times. A hologram flickered to life and his fingers flew over the keys. His grey eyes flickered across the information.

"No," Sage answered Nightingale's previous question, "They learned from our generation that starting the Spartans as kids would take too long. Although it makes better Spartans - since children are more likely to survive the Augmentation and can receive more modifications - starting a new Spartan generation that young would take too much time and money. The Federation needs Spartans on the front lines, and it can't afford to waste decades on training them. Not with the Bijuu invasion."

"I don't understand," Crane leaned back into the couch and crossed her arms. "We were trained as children in order to build up our strength and stamina so that we could better survive the Augmentation. How are they going to make new Spartans without preparing them to survive the process?"

"Simple." Sage said monotonously. "They are using adult subjects, only on a wider scale than when they started with us. The survival rate will decrease substantially, but this way they will still be able to create Spartans. Besides, ONI can't afford to kidnap children anymore. Since the Bijuu invasion, the Federation has turned their attention to ONI for better weapons and soldiers. No more secrets."

Crow spoke up. "And what is the projected survival rate for these adult Spartans?"

"Twenty percent." Sage answered.

That was met with another tense silence, save for Pyro letting out a low whistle. It was a huge decline in the chances of successful Augmentation. For SPARTAN Generation One, there had been an 80% survival rate, which was a huge number, considering the dangers of genetic modification. Only forty-nine of the trainees died in the Augmentation process for Generation One.

"So they're just going to gamble the lives of hundreds of soldiers?" Crane asked incredulously. She snorted. "Typical ONI."

"Not to mention their physical capabilities won't be anywhere near our level." Nightingale said, her medical knowledge kicking in. "We spent years building up a physical and mental foundation before the Augmentation process. Our bodies were molded so that we were prepared for it. Our bodies were still growing even after Augmentation, and were able to adapt to the new genetic modifications."

Nightingale shook her head. "But putting full-grown adult through the Augmentation? It's a bad idea. Their bodies have already reached maturity and have stopped growing. It won't be able to adjust to the Augmentation. Putting an adult through Augmentation is forcing evolution on something that has already become stagnant."

Cleaver snorted. "Since when does ONI care? Anything and everything is a lab rat to them."

Sage's fingers tapped his holo-screen a couple times before he provided more information.

"It looks like SPARTAN Generation Two is set to begin next year." Sage told them. "They're starting with one thousand participants."

"So that way at least two hundred survive!" Pierce exclaimed with mocking cheerfulness.

A couple of them snorted at this.

"But wait, there's more!" Scythe interjected, a scowl on his face. "We're fuckin' training these bitches!"

"But only the ones who survive the Augmentation process." Sage corrected him.

Alpha Blue stared at them incredulously, a couple of them seemed horrified.

"Oh hell no." Shark was the first to speak up. "I ain't trainin' no newbies."

"We are too busy with missions as it is." Crow stated calmly, but with a steely edge to his voice. "And it is beneath our ranks to waste our time with such things."

The rest of the Spartans around them nodded in agreement.

"And since when does ONI ever give us a choice?" Greed finally spoke, his voice cynical as always.

Another bout of silence.

And then, someone snickered.

All eyes turned to Scorpion. When the redheaded maniac found something amusing, most people ran the other way. Scorpion was another Spartan who's head had been a little twisted after the Augmentation, though nothing as unhinged as Scythe, Greed, or Cleaver.

"How much do you wanna bet they're making us do this to 'socialize' us better?" Scorpion chuckled evilly.

Everyone groaned. It was well-known that Spartans were sociopaths and isolated themselves from everyone but their teammates. ONI had tried multiple times to try and 'humanize' them, from therapy to sticking little AI voices inside their helmets during missions. They were still waiting for command to instigate group therapy sessions singing 'kum-ba-ya'.

"Please no." Nightingale rubbed her temples.

"If that's the case, we will make them seriously regret that decision." Shark stated resolutely.

Scythe grinned. "We'll make those little fuckers wish they'd never been born."

* * *

 _At first, everything was dark._

 _And then the pain._

 _So, so much pain._

 _Machines whirred, metal squeaked, monitors beeped._

 _Needles, needles everywhere, poking, prodding, digging deeper and deeper and deeper._

 _Through skin and flesh and muscle and bone._

 _To the marrow._

 _Injecting._

 _Thrashing, screaming, crying._

 _But they can't move. There's metal, digging into their wrists and their ankles, and forehead, holding them down._

 _DNA is pulled apart, strand by strand, and built back up with foreign chemicals and hormones, more more more._

 _Muscle pulling, marrow hardening, bones pushing out._

 _Skin crawling._

 _Voice gasping._

 _The pain! The pain!_

 _Heart beating erratically, breath shallow, it hurt to breath, it hurt to think, a new wave of pain accompanied each heartbeat._

 _Survive._

 _That was their only thought._

 _Survive._

 _The pain would pass._

 _Survive._

 _And then darkness again._

* * *

 **/:/::/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/::/**

 **/:/:/SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/:/::/**

 **././:/ {Test Subject 023}:/./::/**

 **Origin:** System 984 - Planet 546 - Iwa Colony

 **Name:** Deidara

 **Code Name:** Pyro

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 310 (replaced with clone)

 **Age:** Acquired at 6 Fed. years, currently 29 Fed. years

 **Training:** 82% success rate - 7/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 078 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated

 **Eyes:** Blue

 **Hair:** Blonde

 **Height:** Biologically 1.7 m / 5'6ft - After Augmentation 2.0m / 6'8ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 51kg / 112lbs - After Augmentation 90.8kg / 201lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Explosives expert - Pilot (cleared for jet/chopper/cruiser) -Medium/Long range combat

 **Comments:** More emotional than most Spartans. Rash, loud, risky. Labeled pyromaniac. Mentally unstable after Augmentation, prone to killing sprees. Suggest for AI modification. However, he is an astonishing pilot, especially for close-quarters and combat maneuvers, does well under pressure. Suggest for Alpha Team.

* * *

 **So, um... This is gonna be more than a few chapters... I may have unknowingly started a new series... dammit...**

 **~Lilithia**


	5. Chapter 5: Survive the Augmentation

**And we're back! A huuuuge thank you to all who have reviewed!**

 **To answer a few of the general questions:**

 **-Yes, other Naruto characters will make their appearances, but I'm not gonna tell who or when or how they will fit into the series (don't wanna ruin the surprise and al** **l) (But here's a sneak peek: Kakashi will be making an appearance soon *commence fangirling*)**

 **-I haven't decided how the AI's will fit in yet, so that'll be a surprise for me and all of you haha**

 **-Originally I planned on keeping Sakura and Itachi as the main characters... but obviously I failed at that haha. Every chapter so far seems to be from a different POV. I'm just writing from the POV of the character that fits into how I want to present the story. Sooo... Everyone is game.**

 **To be honest I'm making all of this up as I go along. I never really planned for this story to grow as it has. What is a surprise to you guys is probably also a surprise to me lol.**

 **STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES**

* * *

 **/:/../:/ ONI/ENCRYPTED/ONI - FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/./.:/**

 **/:/::/../SPARTAN PROJECT - GENERATION 1/:/./::/**

 **./:/ {Test Subject 099}:/./:/**

 **Origin:** System 234 - Planet 1028 - Mizu Colony

 **Name:** Kisame

 **Code Name:** Shark

 **Acquired:** Taken Fed. Year 309 (orphan)

 **Age:** Acquired at 7 Fed. years, currently 31 Fed. years

 **Training:** 90% success rate - 9/10 kill rate

 **Augmentation:** Success **-** 155 of 300 survivors; 49 terminated **[insert]** Skin turned blue after Augmentation

 **Eyes:** Grey

 **Hair:** Black

 **Height:** Biologically 1.95 m / 6'3ft - After Augmentation 2.4m / 7'8ft

 **Weight:** Biologically 83.1kg / 204lbs - After Augmentation 150.1kg / 332lbs

 **Status:** Active - Alpha Squad

 **Position:** Heavy Armor - Heavy Weapon - Hand to Hand - Close combat

 **Comments:** Cruel, bloodthirsty, and more intelligent than people give him credit for. He's big, but he's fast. The Augmentation did wonders - he's nearly 8 feet tall! Only side effect was the strange pigment of his skin. He is more than the super soldier that we asked for, he's practically a walking tank. Obliterates anything and everything in his path without mercy. Request for Alpha team, but pair him with a level head. He is prone to berserking.

* * *

1,000.

One thousand participants.

That was a lot of men and women for a top-secret special operations try out. For the people who had volunteered to risk their lives for even just the _chance_ to join the ranks of the SPARTAN soldiers. There were no established prerequisites in order to qualify for the try out, but there still were some that went unsaid: you had to be a good fighter and you had to be hella stubborn.

It took more than just good health to survive the Augmentation.

The participants had come from all walks of life and various military branches and ranks. Airforce, Army, the Naval and Marine Spacecorps, men, women, cadets and sergeants. Previous rankings were wiped and all were equal in the eyes of the SPARTAN scientists. The only thing that mattered was physical endurance and intelligence.

The trainees spent their first year building up their physical prowess. Each day they trained, pushing their bodies past its limits, forcing themselves to improve or go home. They were fed steroids with each meal, they were in every meal and drink that they consumed. Body aches became a constant as growing pains accompanied the stress of training, their bodies growing taller and more muscled as if they were teenagers again.

Any sign of weakness, and you were dismissed, never to dream of special ops again. By the end of that first year, the program had weeded out all who were weak in body.

900 participants.

The next year the training doubled. In addition to the physical labor every morning and every night, the trainees went through schooling. They learned about every weapon in existence, human-made and bijuu-made, familiarizing themselves with every bullet, every barrel, and every screw that went into the firearms. From warthogs to tanks to jets; from pistols to SMG sidearms to H1 sniper rifles. The bijuu weapons were far more confusing than human weapons - there was no gunpowder or bullet, instead they either used a plasma power source for short and controlled bursts, or strange rapid-fire rifles that used needle-like shots that were made even deadlier with heat-seeking attributes.

They learned piloting, both in atmosphere and in space, intermediate hacking skills, AI creation and development, spaceship command and detail, as well as the known biology of the bijuu aliens. The sheer amount of knowledge that the program was cramming into their skulls would have been overwhelming even without the physical training regime. But combined with the morning and evening workouts (read: torture) participants were constantly exhausted. They were lucky to receive five hours of sleep in one night, and weekends were unheard of. Every day they were pushed harder and harder, and every day another trainee either quit voluntarily or collapsed from exhaustion and removed from the program.

800 participants.

Two years of physical and mental preparation and the SPARTAN program was ready to move to it's most crucial step: Augmentation. While the training for the Spartan hopefuls was no where near over, the rest of it could not be completed without the genetic enhancements.

The participants were gathered in the cafeteria, which had been cleared of tables and chairs to accommodate the crowd. They were lined up alphabetically, and a group of twenty at a time were separated from the group and taken down to the lower levels were the labs were. No one know what the process of Augmentation was, or how it operated. The people who entered the labs were never seen from again - either they had died in the surgery, or survived and were taken away by ONI.

During this time, Ino and Kiba had not been able to speak to Naruto or Sasuke, nor to each other. They had been separated alphabetically into different training groups at the beginning of the program. Only Naruto and Sasuke were placed in the same training group, having last names that began with the same letter. The friends had only caught glimpses of each other between training and eating periods, just long enough to flash each other reassuring smiles.

Kiba was the first of their group of friends to enter the labs.

As his group stood to leave the cafeteria, he glanced back and made eye contact with his friends. Naruto and Sasuke were sitting next to each other, the blonde flashing him a nervous thumbs-up and Sasuke looking grim. Ino's eyes were bright and filled with worry when he met her gaze, and they silently nodded to each other in farewell - _just in case either of them died._

Kiba swallowed hard and followed the group of silent and nervous men - and one woman - filed into a wide lift. The door lowered behind them, and the floor beneath them jerked before they felt themselves being lowered. The base had two official sub-levels.

The elevator passed both of them.

Kiba's eyes trained on the digital number above the buttons that reflected what floor they were passing. When the numbers read 'SubLevel -2', the lights flickered and suddenly the sign went black. No one spoke, but there was a rising tension in the air around them, stifled by the close quarters.

The person next to him shifted and brushed his shoulder. Kiba glanced at them and met dark brown eyes that were filled with grim determination. It was the one woman in their group, a brunette with her hair cropped close to her head. Kiba remembered seeing her at the beginning of the program, before they had all been forced to shave their heads. She had had longer hair back then, which he had noticed because she had pulled them into twin buns on either side of her head.

She nodded at him gravely, exchanging encouraging looks before they focused on the door. The floor beneath them continued to lower, long after they had passed the last floor. The minutes stretched on, until finally they felt the lift slowing down, and the floor jerked to a halt beneath their feet.

The doors opened, but no one moved to get out.

A man in a lab coat exited from a doorway down the hallway and began walking towards them.

"Don't just stand there, move." He griped. "Come on, this way."

The trainees filed out of the lift, following the man down the hallway. They arrived in what appeared to be a central lab or hub, screens on every wall and glowing with semi-neon light. Various charts and diagrams were displayed, human body pictures with medical charts off to the side of them, various beeping noises filling the room, interrupting the constant hum of medical and scientific jargon.

The scientists did not bother to look up at the participants as they were ushered into the room and out the other side into a long hallway.

"Each of you take a room." The scientist that guided them ordered, turning to leave. He paused at the doorway as the participants wandered further down the hall. "And, uh, good luck."

He sounded rather pessimistic.

 _Most of us are not going to leave here alive._ Kiba thought to himself as he entered one of the doorways.

The room was a small laboratory, with various needle and surgical machines surrounding a reclining table. Kiba guessed that was where he was supposed to lie down, on the white medical table in the center of the room. It was not completely flat, but had indents on its surface to accommodate the human body, slightly angled upwards so that it sat up slightly.

 _One of the previous trainees probably died on that table not five minutes ago._ Chills ran down his spine.

Kiba climbed into the contraption just as a door slid open at the back of the room and a small team of masked scientists swarmed in. There were four of them that he counted, not speaking a word to him as they began to tap the machines, fingers flying across the keyboards. He felt like a lab rat, resisting the rising panic in his chest as they leaned over him, strapping down his wrists and ankles into metal cuffs. Cold steel pushed against his abdomen as another metal restraint was placed over his torso. He couldn't see their faces, hidden behind a mask that covered their nose and mouth, and their eyes hidden behind goggles that flashed ominously in the light.

He breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm his heart rate as someone's hand pushed his head back onto the surface of the table, and a metal circlet was lowered down to press against his forehead, locking his head into place. Someone else inserted a mouth guard between his teeth.

A smaller, more harmless-looking needle appeared in the hands of one of the scientists and they quickly shot its contents into Kiba's bicep.

"The maximum dosage of morphine has been applied. Two minutes until commencement."

He couldn't tell which scientist said it, nor the gender of the speaker.

"Subject is ready to receive Augmentation."

The voice was dry, robotic, its owner detaching themselves from caring about the number of men and women who would die during this process.

Kiba swallowed and sent up a small prayer to a god that no one prayed to anymore.

The machines came to life with a whir of movement and beeping signals. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the metal of the needles flashing under the fluorescent lights, and suddenly he felt very, very afraid.

He felt like a small child, wishing that he could run home and crawl into his mother's arms. Oh god, would she be notified if he died here? Or would he just disappear, as so many others had before him?

The machines hummed as the needles aligned at various points of his body. He could barely see the scientists as they ran around his frozen body, checking each device and its alignment before the Augmentation could commence.

"All clear."

An emotionless voice spoke, and Kiba felt the dread rise to a fever pitch within him as he heard their footsteps retreat, the sound of a door sliding open and the scientists leaving the room.

A hum, and the door slides shut.

All he could see was the white ceiling above him, and the glinting metal instruments that hovered around and above in a sick imitation of vultures waiting for its prey to breathe its last.

He was alone.

Oh god, he didn't want to be alone. Not for this! He wanted someone to hold his hand, so tell him he would be alright, that he would live -

 _Bzzzzzzzzzz_

The Augmentation commenced.

.

.

.

All thoughts scattered and he screamed.

He screamed and he begged and he cried and he prayed for death.

Pain was all he felt, filling every pore of his being.

The needles drilled into his body, further and further, not stopping, through flesh and through bone. He felt his entire body wrack uncontrollably, and he would have thrashed like a possessed man had he not been bolted down.

The needles drilled into his head, minuscule yet unbreakable as they were inserted into his skull, somehow bypassing his skull without cracking his cranium. The needles stopped when they had just barely pricked the surface of his brain and began applying whatever enhancement the SPARTAN program used.

Larger needles prodded every inch of his body. He cried out hoarsely when the needles hit his bones and did not stop.

They drilled further into his bones, the shock reverberating up and down his limbs, numb yet at the same time, on fire. He could _feel_ the liquid being inserted into his bones, filling the cracks and going further, spreading into every pore of the marrow, coating his entire skeleton.

Elsewhere, he could feel other serums being inserted into his body. His flesh felt like it was on fire as other chemicals were introduced to his body, his muscles spasming under the combined stress of pain, tension, and alteration.

He would have bitten his tongue off by now if it wasn't for the thick rubber mouth guard locked in his jaw. Bile rose in his throat from the torture, coating his tongue with a sharp and bitter taste, with a hint of iron that told him there was blood mixed in it as well. The mouth guard managed to stay in place despite that he was hacking and coughing up bile, blood, and saliva in between his screams and moans.

 _Oh god please -_

 _Make it stop -_

 _Anything but this oh god -_

 _I'm gonna die please just -_

 _Make it stop -_

 _I'm dying -_

 _It hurts so much oh god -_

 _How can anyone survive this -_

 _I can't... I can't... I wanna die... please..._

.

.

.

 _No._

 _No I refuse to die._

 _I WILL NOT DIE HERE._

* * *

To: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )

From: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)

Subject: SPARTAN Generation 2

 _Congratulations, Senju. Another round of guinea pigs still alive._

 _The report states that there were 200 survivors this time, which meets expectation. They have a week to recover before they're put into squads and attached to an active cell. I want them up and running ASAP._

* * *

To: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)

From: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )

RE: Subject: SPARTAN Generation 2

 _A week? A WEEK?_

 _Their entire biological systems have just been pulled inside-out and you want them up and running in A GODDAMN WEEK?_

 _It will take them AT LEAST a month to recover! Let alone be combat ready you twat!_

 _This is my program. They aren't going into the field until I say so!_

* * *

To: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )

From: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)

RE: Subject: SPARTAN Generation 2

 _You will not address me in such a manner, Dr. Senju. Do not forget who funds all of your research. If it wasn't for ONI you would have been labeled a mad scientist and thrown into jail for 'inhumane experiments'._

 _We have a war to win, doctor. Now is not the time to baby your precious lab rats._

 _I want my supersoldiers in a week._

* * *

To: ||||||||||| (####ONI ###.gov)

From: Dr. Tsunade (####Senju ### )

RE: Subject: SPARTAN Generation 2

 _Shove it up your ass old man. If it wasn't for MY research, humanity would have never been able to stand against the Bijuu._

 _MY Spartans are no use to you if they drop dead in the first five minutes of a battle because their bodies have not adapted to the Augmentation yet._ _They will be combat ready when I say they are._

 _End. Of. Discussion._

* * *

He was floating.

Everything was darkness.

No light, no sound, no smell... just a deep ache that seemed to echo throughout his body.

 _Beep._

Something... something was there...

 _Beep._

He struggled to remember. Who was he? Why was he here? What... What happened? Why was he in pain?

 _Beep._

He remembered... white. Red. White and red. Why?

 _Beep._

He breathed in. Metal. Blood. The familiar smell of nothingness, sterile and dry. His mouth felt raw like sandpaper, and his tongue tasted like iron.

 _Beep._

The darkness lightened and sound returned to him. Muffled shuffling. Whispers. The flutter of paper. Tinkling metal. A cough.

 _Beep._

He was alive.

That was his first thought. He shifted, and let out a hiss when a sharp pain flared up in every limb.

"He's waking!" Someone exclaimed softly. "Get Dr. Senju!"

He heard the sound of clothes rustling that accompanied movement, and he sensed more than heard a person approach his side. He felt his heart speed up as mild panic set in. Where was he? Who were these people? What had they done to him? Everything hurt, why did everything hurt?

"Sir, do not be alarmed." A gentle voice soothed him, picking up on his discomfort. "You are safe now. We're gonna take care of you."

His breathing slowed and he calmed down a bit. Though his muscles were still tense, he forced his body to relax as he felt the person sit down next to him.

"Nod if you are thirsty."

He tried to swallow and found his throat parched, glued shut with a sour taste. He nodded slowly, careful not to move too much for fear of the pain.

"Good, good." The voice encouraged, their gender unidentifiable. "I'm bringing a glass of water to your lips. You need to drink very slowly, no matter how thirsty you are, ok? Your body has been under a lot of stress."

He felt something cool touch his lips - glass, he remembered - and felt the pressure increase as it tipped. The most heavenly sensation trickled between his dry lips, cooling his body almost immediately. The water flowed into the back of his mouth, washing away the aftertaste of blood and bile. He wanted so very much to chug it all down, but he heeded the voice's warning about drinking too fast. He swallowed slowly, savoring the feel of fresh water traveling down his throat.

"There we go." The voice crooned. "You're doing very well."

He shifted, wanting to open his eyes, wanting to see the world, wanting answers, why why why?

"Don't move!" The voice rose in pitch, worry evident in their tone. "Your body needs rest, a lot of rest. Keep as still as possible, at least for the next few days. Just let us take care of you."

He was so tired, so very tired. The aches were becoming harder to ignore, the pain flaring up more frequently and with increasing intensity. The darkness beckoned him.

 _Whoooooshhhh..._

A door slid open somewhere behind him, and he heard another pair of footsteps enter the room.

"The doctor is here to see you now." The voice reassured him. "She's gonna check up on you, ok?"

He heard more movement, and then another presence was at his other side. He could feel the warmth radiating from their body, smell their scent and feel their eyes on him.

"Hello Kiba." A woman's voice greeted him, gentle yet impersonal. "My name is Dr. Senju. I'm just here to check over your stats, ok? Try not to move or think too much. Just relax. If you feel like sleeping, go ahead. You will need a lot more rest before you're strong enough to get up."

He heard fingers tapping across a screen, with very faint pinging noises. He listened to the sound of their breathing, counting their breaths in and out, settling back down. The doctor and the other person began to whisper in hushed tones, further away from him now. He couldn't focus long enough to understand their words, though he had the feeling that it was all medical jargon anyway.

The darkness beckoned.

He gladly embraced it.

* * *

 **Whoooo another chapter done!**

 **Tell me what you think, leave a review!**

 **~Lilithia**


	6. Chapter 6: The Damning Truth

**HOOOOOLY SHIIIIT! Dude, this thing is over 8,500 words long (without my A/N to boot!)**

 **Be proud of me, my peeps!**

 **This chapter is dedicated to: lyndyloowho**

 **She sent me a message guys! *blushes***

 **This is one of my less popular stories, so it was so heart-warming to hear that someone was waiting eagerly for an update on one of my _personal_ favorites to write.**

 **I told her that it would be out by last weekend, but as you can see, this chapter turned out to be a monster. I literally stayed up all night writing this. At least you're getting your money's worth, no?**

 **WARNING: Things get hella real towards the end of this chapter. Prepare thy feels~~~~~**

 **Also, in case you can't remember their numbers:**

 **Deidara - Spartan 023**

 **Sakura - Spartan 087**

 **Sasori - Spartan 096**

 **Itachi - Spartan 113**

 **Konan - Spartan 256**

* * *

 **Federation year 316 (twenty years prior to Bijuu encounter)**

 _"Are you fucking insane?" The kid hissed as his friends (a loose term for sure) led them through the shadowed hallways of the base. "There's cameras all over this place!"_

 _"Which is why I convinced 96 to hack into the security systems and cover us." The blonde at the head of their little group whispered over his shoulder._

 _The other kid that he spoke to choked. "Wha- What?! How the hell did you get him to do that?"_

 _The blonde one, 23 to those who knew him, smirked. "He does nice things for his friends, un."_

 _"He doesn't have friends." 113 deadpanned._

 _"Well, I'm the closest thing then." 23 replied._

 _"Will both of you shut up?" A low female voice snapped, a tall young girl with blue hair pushed them forward. "The guards are still making their rounds."_

 _"I still say this is a bad idea." The other boy muttered, running his hands through his black hair nervously._

 _"You can stay behind, you know." Another female voice spoke up, this one softer, though in no way gentle. "There's still time for you to turn back. We won't begrudge you for not coming."_

 _" **I** will!" 23 piped up._

 _A small, pink-haired child slapped the back of his head. "Shut it."_

 _113 glanced at the girl with 087 stitched onto her uniform. He hesitated, and then shook his head. "No. If you're going, then I'm going."_

 _The loud blonde snickered. "Oh man, he has it bad, yeah."_

 _256 rolled her eyes and slapped his head again. "Keep moving. We have a small window of opportunity."_

 _The rag-tag group of child soldiers crept through the hallways of the space station, dodging patrolling marines and distracted scientists. Reaching the hangar, they stayed in the shadows as they slipped down to the lower loft, where the smaller ships were stationed. 256 led them to a small fighter spacejet, jumping onto its platform and beginning to hack into its system._

 _"Keep a look out." She ordered her fellows as her fingers flew across the screen, unlocking the security systems and mainhub. "Okay, I'm in."_

 _The hatch slid open with a hiss. The four children scrambled into the hull, 256 was last as she set the system for automatic discharge. Darting into the main pilot seat, 256 brought the machine online and continued to type._

 _"Listen up guys." She said sternly as she secured her seat restraints. "The moment this ship releases, not even 96 can prevent the station from noticing its departure. I'm going to turn off its tracking beacon. All nuke-fusion properties must remain off until we are out of range of the station's sonar."_

 _The young girl took a huge breath and let it out slowly, her fingers curling around the jet's wheel. She and her companions took out the ship's face masks and strapped them on, flicking on the oxygen breathers._

 _The comms system lit up briefly, flashing the number of an unknown signal._

 _* **shhhh shhhh** *_

 _"Guys?" 96's voice whispered loudly in the ship's hull._

 _"We're in." 23 answered his partner in crime._

 _"There's nothing more I can do from here." 96 spoke over the radio. "I can jam their systems for five minutes, but that's all you'll get."_

 _"That will be plenty of time." 256 replied confidently._

 _They heard 96 huff. "Don't plug in your destination's coordinates until you are out of their reach - "_

 _"We know." 256 interrupted impatiently._

 _96 made a disgusted sound at her. "Fine. Get moving. And... good luck."_

 _His signal went offline, and 256 snapped off the transmission reciever. The ship shuddered as the automatic discharge was triggered, the clamps around the ship releasing as it deported from its docking station. The lights in the hangar began to flash bright red and orange as the hangar sealed its doors and the garage pressurized, its panel opening into empty space._

 _The jet slid backwards, heavy metal moving slowly without the aid of gravity. 256 bit her tongue as she guided the controls, 023 and 087 taking over the internal controls while she drove the ship. Above their heads, the light for the jet's reciever blinked rapidly as the space station attempted to contact them. They ignored it._

 _Finally the ship dropped into empty space, floating aimlessly for a moment beneath the hangar. Then 256 ignited the engines, and a lazy blue glow erupted from the thrusters._

 _"Hang on." Was all the warning 256 gave her peers before she thrust the controller forward, and the ship shot away from the station._

 _87 and 113 immediately grabbed their chairs, thankful for the seat belts across their chests and laps. 23 cursed under his breath from the sudden movement._

 _"And they think **I** went crazy after Augmentation." 23 muttered._

 _"I'm not the pyromaniac." 256 drawled into her comm speaker as she steered the ship away from the space station at the fastest speed that it could go._

 _"Why did you come again?" 23 growled as he gripped his seat._

 _256 snickered. "For moral support."_

 _"Moral support my ass." 23 muttered._

 _"Both of you, pay attention!" 113 snapped as his gaze fell on their radar._

 _87 tapped her own screen, green eyes reflecting the neon glow. "The station will be back online in T-minus 60 seconds!" She exclaimed in a hard voice. "We aren't out of their range yet."_

 _256 moved the control forward and down, and the thrusters flared as she kicked the jet into overdrive._

 _"Do it!" 87 ordered._

 _256 reached up and flicked several switched above their heads, the lights and controls blaring loudly through the speakers of their helmets._

 _"Preparing for slip-space rupture." She spoke in a calm voice which belied their situation._

 _87 tapped her screen. "Now! We have ships in pursuit!"_

 _The other female nodded. "Teleporting in 3... 2... 1..."_

 _There was a hum that filled the air, growing so loud that they could feel it in their bones. The children grit their teeth as the hum turned into a powerful vibration that shuddered throughout the entire hull, pressurizing their ears and shaking their teeth. They squeezed their eyes shut as a bright light seemed to encompassed the entire ship, and the black void of space ripped open before them._

 _A tear in space - also known as a slip-space rupture._

 _The next galaxy over yawned before them, light years of travel meaningless in its wake. 256 pushed the jet forward, the gravity-well created by the tear sucking the ship into its center. They felt their bodies tremble as their molecules resisted the pull._ _The tear spat their ship out into the galaxy system 984, the rupture making a shushing sound as it snapped closed behind them._

 _For a moment, all was silent and the ship hung listlessly in space, drifting while its occupants got a hold on themselves._

 _256 was the first to shake herself from her stupor, touching the holoscreens to re-activate the jet's system. The radar came back online with the sound of blips and beeps, and the reciever blinked once to show that it was active._

 _"Congratulations everyone." 256 spoke into her comm with a dry voice. "We've survived our first slip-space rupture."_

 _"Ugh..." 23 rubbed his helmet in a vain attempt to alleviate his headache. "Remind me never to do that again."_

 _"We're Spartans." 113 deadpanned. "We'll be doing teleportation a lot in our careers."_

 _23 just groaned in response._

 _"23, we need your coordinates now." 87 interrupted his whining._

 _The boy snapped back to attention and looked down at his holoscreen, fingers tapping across the board. "Entering coordinates now."_

 _*beep beep*_

 _87 froze as she stared at the screen, and then looked over at 23 seated on her left. "Iwa Colony?"_

 _23 just nodded._

 _"Heh, I should have figured." She chuckled into her comm unit. "256, ya got that?"_

 _"Yup." The pilot responded, and their jet jolted forward as it swung in the direction of planet 546._

 _They traveled the rest of the way in silence, save for the beeps and clicks and whirs of the ship. It took them another hour to reach the outskirts of the inner system, despite traveling at light speed._

 _"I assume you have a plan to get past their planetary defenses?" 87 suddenly spoke up with her usual snark. "Preferably without us having to check in with their air force."_

 _Because **that** would go over well. 'Sorry sirs, the reason why we are missing our papers and passports is because we technically don't exist, since we were kidnapped by the government and raised as science experiments'. Yeah, no problems there at all._

 _"This is an ONI ship." 256 informed them. "Its technologies are far ahead the rest of the Federation's hardware. It has a built-in cloaking device that none of the Federation systems will be able to detect."_

 _87 stared at her for a moment. "Well... I guess that'll do."_

 _256 glanced back, her visor hiding her eyes as she stared at 23. "But Iwa is a large planet either way. I hope you know where exactly you want us to land?"_

 _"I have an idea." 023 replied with uncharacteristic severity. He glanced down at a piece of paper that he had hidden in up his sleeve, hastily-written digits and codes scrawled across its surface. He brought up the ship's GPS system and selected 'Iwa', and then punched in another set of numbers._

 _"Here," He pointed as a 3-D hologram of Iwa Colony projected into the middle of the hull. The rest of his peers turned in their seats to face it. "The location is in the northern hemisphere, on this continent here."_

 _256 carefully studied the location that he pointed at. "Okay, I think that will work..." She muttered as she swivelled around in her chair and took the controls._

 _They approached the planet's atmosphere carefully, 87 and 113 keeping an eye on the planetary defenses and radar. 256 had been right about the cloaking device - nothing sensed their approach. They exited lightspeed as they reached the outskirts of the planet's atmosphere, their seat belts once again straining at the sudden change in velocity. After almost running into a satellite, they managed to enter Iwa's atmosphere, again having to brace themselves as the jet shuddered and bumped against the sudden forces of gravity._

 _"Switching to manual thrust." 256 spoke into her comm as she slid down a switch and flicked another one on. Now the thrusters on the ship glowed yellow instead of blue, the engine switching from nuke-fusion to petroleum._

 _"Bring up a geographical map of the area." 113 suddenly spoke up. "We'll need to land this thing in a place no one will find it."_

 _87 was already on it, the hologram in the middle of the hull flickering into a green and brown picture as a projection of the region lit up their visors. A red dot marked the place where 23 planned to infiltrate. The hologram zoomed out as 87 scanned the land, searching for a proper location for their ship to touch down._

 _"Here." She murmured, marking a flat plane in the middle of the forest, far away from civilization. She sent the coordinates to 256's screen, and the pilot adjusted their course accordingly._

 _Despite that their jet was considerd a 'small' spacecraft, it still barely fit into the forest clearing. 256 managed the land the ship pretty cleanly, despite her youth. Prior to this, her only experience in flight craft was flying simulators for the Spartan program and a few in-space flying lessons. Tertiary landing was still new to her, so their landing was bumpy to say the least._ _As their ship's thrusters turned off, and the jet dropped the last few meters onto land. It's landing gears creaked at the force of impact, the entire hull shuddering._

 _"Shit!" 023 squeaked as they landed hard in their seats._

 _"My ass..." 087 groaned as she slowly unbuckled her restraints._

 _113 and 256 merely grunted at the impact, and then withheld their complaints as they finally stood from their seats._

 _256 put the ship's systems in 'docked' mode, although she kept the cloaking device on to keep the planet's airforce from sensing any foreign energy signals. She locked the piloting system and them flicked the switch to open the hatch._

 _* **Hisssssssssssss** *_

 _The hull depressurized, and they suddenly felt their skin prickled as fresh air rushed in. The children stood frozen for a moment, staring up at the open sky thorugh the visors of their helmets._

 _023 was the first to move, slowly bringing his arms up to switch off his oxygen mask._

 _87 snapped her hand out, grasping his arm in a vice-like grip. "Are... are you sure it's safe?" She asked in an unusually nervous voice._

 _The boy scoffed. "This is a terrestrial planet. Humans live just fine here."_

 _"I know that!" 87 snapped, but that did not quell her unease. To be honest, this was her first time on a real planet since she had been taken from Spring Colony. For the past couple years, she had been subjected to a simulated atmosphere, and she no longer knew how to react to a real one._

 _Despite his bravado, 23 felt his hands tremble as he lifted his helmet off of his head, holding his breath. His first reaction was to hiss, as the brightness of the sun cut into his vision without the aid of a visor to dull its light. Then, he breathed in._

 _His heart fluttered in his chest._

 _Air. Real air._

 _Not filtered and sanitized, dry and stale._

 _This air was dirty, filled with so many scents that he thought his nose would overload. Organic smells filled the air, the scents of plants and animals, floral and musky and humid all at once._

 _He took another deep breath, feeling something prick his eyes._

 _The wind picked up, and for the first time he felt the air catch on his blonde hair, tangling the locks and whipping against his cheeks._

 _He laughed in wonder._

 _Slowly, the children next to him followed his lead. 113 was the first, flicking off his oxygen supply and unbuckling his helme, pulling it up and off of his head. Black hair fell down to frame his face, black eyes flickering around them cautiously, narrowing at the unexpected brightness of the sun. His expression remained carefully stoic._

 _87 followed suit, pulling off her helmet with only a moment's hesitation, holding her breath. Pink bangs felt forward into her face, tickling her nose. With her first breath of natural air, her nose uncontrollably twitched and then -_

 _"Achoo!"_

 _She sneezed violently. Her head shot up to stare at her fellows with surprise, her green eyes shooting wide at the unexpected reaction. Her lips were parted in a small 'o' as she tapped her nose in confusion._

 _23 turned to her with a grin, laughing at her apparent confusion. Even 113 looked amused._ _Then all three children turned to the final member of their party. 256 remained carefully still, watching them all nervously._

 _"...it's okay." 87 whispered to the girl. "You'll be okay."_

 _256 visibly shook as her gloved hands reached up towards her helmet. She flicked off the oxygen supply and slowly unbuckled its straps. Then she grasped the edges of her helm, pausing as she hesitated again. 113 sent her an encouraging nod, and she slowly pulled off the helmet, revealing a head of close-cropped blue hair. Her face underneath was scrunched up as she kept her eyes squeezed shut and plugged her nose._

 _23 chuckled. "The air isn't going to hurt you!" He told her, and then pointed at 87. "She just sneezed, that's all it was."_

 _256 squinted one eye open, then shut it quickly as the sun invaded her vision. She waited another moment before she dared to open her eyes again, her pupils dilating and adjusting to the foreign sun. Then she un-scrunched her face, and carefully took a light whiff of the air. The girl blinked in surprise, and then took another breath._

 _"What... what is a sneeze?" She finally spoke up._

 _23 opened his mouth to answer, but then paused in confusion. "Well... I don't know how to describe it. But it's what 87 just did!"_

 _"Very helpful." 113 muttered dryly, earning himself a dirty look from the blonde boy._

 _The children stood in the open hatch of the jet, overlooking the clearing around them. They stared at the clarity of the colors, so used to the muted color scheme of the military. But out here, the green was nearly overwhelming. There were just so many sights and sounds and smells! The leaves whispering in the wind, the cries of birds and other animals, the unfamiliar and overwhelming number of scents in the air!_

 _87 shook herself out of her stupor, reaching down to her seat and grabbing a small device and strapping it to her wrist. A rectangular screen lit up, and her fingers pressed several buttons._

 _"Iwa Colony." She spoke, gaining the attention of her peers. "According to my calculations, the time here is approximately 23:45. Iwa has 48-hour days, so it is currently midday for them."_

 _"Plenty of time." 23 murmured._

 _"Yes, well, we still need to get moving." 113 placed his hands on his hips as he glanced around. "We don't know how long it will take ONI to track us down."_

 _They children climbed out from the hull, sliding down the side of the jet and landing in a roll on the ground nearly two meters down._

 _When 87 rolled to a stop, she paused before standing up. She reached forward and touched the ground gently, running her fingers through the blades of grass. It was so strange - soft and yet gritty. There was a film over the leaves, which caused friction between the pads of her fingers and the surface of the grass. And the ground, it was so... lumpy. Her feet were constantly adjusting to its surface._

 _"The ground..." 256 whispered beside her, just as mesmerized by its strange texture. The blue-haired girl froze when she saw a little white flower growin in a patch of grass, and with trembling fingers, she picked it. She slowly brought it to her face, and then carefully took a whiff of its petals. 256 frowned. "It doesn't smell very pretty..." She sighed with disappointment._

 _113 seemed amused as the wind tangled his shoulder-length hair. He held up a hand, reveling in the feel of the wind sifting through his fingers. He slowly closed his fingers into a fist, as if he could capture the air._

 _"Let's move." 23 finally interrupted their explorations._

 _They all snapped to attention and gathered together, unconsciously falling into a military diamond formation. 87 took point, as she had the comm device on her wrist with a map of the area and a compass pointing them in the direction of their target. 113 and 256 flinched at every sound, their fingers curling nervously._

 _"Wish we had brought some weapons..." 256 muttered. She glanced down at their training uniforms and plucked at the fabric. "And armor too." She added._

 _Their uniforms were made of a thick, woven material. It was an off-white shirt and pant duo, the shirt straight and square-shaped like a Chinese shirt. Their pants were similarly formless, with the only adjustments being the length of their legs. The only other color to the unifrom was the muted green trim around the cuffs and on the seams. There were two buttons at the collar, polished metal that gleamed dully like platinum. The only decoration on their clothing was a patch on their left breast, in the same muted green as their trimmings - their identifying numbers._

 _Standard military boots crunched on the forest floor, twigs and leaves and soil all an unfamiliar feeling beneath their feet. 87 gasped when a bug landed on her, and nearly jumped a foot in the air. She was thankful that she was at least able to hold in her scream (23 would never have let her live that down)._

 _They walked slowly through the unfamiliar woods, their only guidance being the comm device on 87's arm. The children had to pick their way through the tangle of forest, tall grass and low-hanging tree branches causing frequent delays. 23 couldn't help but marvel at every little thing that they passed. He was fascinated by the variety in the bugs, from wings to antennae to beetle shells to the many legs of a spider. 256 kept pausing to stare at every flower, tracing their petals with quivering fingers, rubbing their smooth petals. 113 kept glancing up at the tree tops, squinting to peek at the sky between the branches._

 _"How far until civilization?" 23 finally whined after they had been walking for more than an hour or two._

 _87 tapped her screen and zoomed out on the map. "The nearest city is still five miles away."_

 _"Psh, that's nothing." 23 scoffed. "We can run that much!"_

 _"And sweat in our uniforms?" 256 asked dryly._

 _"We're already sweating in them." 113 pointed out. He had a point._

 _So they began to jog the last stretch, jumping over fallen branches and dodging holes in the ground. Despite the fact that Spartan trainees ran seven or eight miles every morning, these last five miles seemed far more exhausting with the added obstacles of hills and streams and various other forest debris. But finally, the woods began to thin out, and they found themselves on the edge of a manicured field._

 _Off in the distance, a city stood tall against the empty sky, gleaming like a gem under the sun._

 _87 glanced at the device on her wrist. "Iwa Capital City." She read the title of the metropolis before them off of her map._

 _113 walked on, and the others followed him. They strode along an overgrown road which seemed to lead straight into the city. As they approached the buildings, the children began to feel very small. The closer they got, the more the many towers seemed to loom in the sky, millions of glass windows glinting like cold eyes, gazing down at them without feeling._

 _The first signs of the city was the ever-increasing amount of buildings. Suddenly the roads before them were well-used, with cracks and potholes littering its path. The buildings around them were mostly dilapidated - broken windows, gaping doorways, broken porches. Everything seemed abandoned. They glimpsed one or two rugged-looking men hunched over in the alleyways, sleeping curled up against the walls, swathed in oversized jackets. The hostile eyes of strangers lingered on the wandering children, and they drew closer to each other for comfort._

 _They continued down the streets. The amount of people steadily increased, most of them shady characters that lingered in the shadows and studied them with wary eyes. Some of the men leered at the girls, while a woman or two sneered at them about 'free-range mongrels'. It was a wonder that no one actually bothered to assault them - well, it was pretty obvious that all they had was the clothes on their backs (save for 87's comm device, but she had kept it carefully hidden under her sleeve)._

 _113 glimpsed neon lights at the end of one of the alleys, and pulled 87 towards it, 256 and 23 following behind._

 _They exited the alley and found themselves in an entirely different part of town. Now the streets were no longer made of concrete or asphalt. Instead, glowing pathways lit up the night as hovercars zoomed through the city, both near the ground and up above them in the sky-streets. In front of them, the sidewalks levitated, pathways built from plasterglass gleaming under the constant glow of neon lights. Signs all around them flashed with unfamiliar logos and words that made little sense (they could read them, but some of the slang was beyond comprehension)._

 _The children remained in the shadows of the alleyway as they stared at the pedestrians with wide eyes. The people here were all dressed differently - not one military uniform in sight! Men in strange shirts with words - some of them highly offensive - and wearing pants that were definitely below the waist, which would have been a huge no-no in the military. Women wore dresses - something that the girls had only ever heard about. Other women were dressed in strikingly provacative clothing, a shirt with only one sleeve, crop tops that showed off their stomachs (some even had their belly-button pierced!), and shorts that seemed to barely cover their butt cheeks._ _"Wow..." 23 breathed as he gazed at the sheet number of people that walked to and fro._

 _Sounds and smells assaulted their senses yet again. Something was frying, and it smelled delicious. People laughed and talked and yelled, voices high and low, children and adults. Teenagers passed them with backpacks and holo-phones, a couple men walked by with beers in hand, someone yelled into their phone while another person walked a dog-like creature._

 _The young Spartans froze when a small family walked by them, a mother holding her daughter's little hand, a man nearby with a smile on his face as he cradled a sleeping boy in his arms._

 _113 felt his hands curl into fists, his nails digging into his palms. A gentle hand touched his, and he glanced over to see 87 give him a sad smile._

 _23 cleared his throat. "How are we going to find anyone in this?" He whispered, finally revealing his nervousness._

 _The pink-haired girl returned her attention to her device, pushing back her sleeve to reveal its screen. "Well, the address that you acquired is located in the suburbs - east of our postition and outside of the main city."_

 _Without another word, they nodded to each other and straightened their backs, stepping out into the neon glow of the city. The plasterglass sidewalk felt familiar beneath their feet - not like the lumpiness of natural ground. They stuck close together, nearly glued to each other's sides as they navigated the crowds, shying away from contact with strangers. Only a few people noted their strange uniforms, one or two staring at them with furrowed brows. They heard whispers follow them - 'Military students?' 'No, too young.' 'Must be private school.'_

 _The gossiping was harmless however, as no one made any move to actually speak to them. They walked quickly down the sidewalks, occasionally flinching at the loud roar of a hover-engine, or the loud ring of a holo-phone._

 _"It says here that we can take a shuttle." 87 murmured to her peers as she read one of the signs lining the sidewalks._

 _"A shuttle to where?" 256 asked._

 _"It's something called 'public transportation'." 87 answered. "It takes us... well, anywhere. So long as we board the right one."_

 _"And where do we find this?" 113 asked._

 _87 glanced around. Her eyes lit up one she recognized the logo she had seen on the advertisement. "There!" She pointed to a small archway that signalled the shuttle station._

 _The children all walked towards the station, stopping by one of the signs that held a map of the city. 87 glanced at her device. "We are looking for... 'Hidden Stone Development'. Whatever that is..."_

 _They all stared up at the sign, tracing various routes and reading the titles of several connecting stations._

 _"Looking for something?"_

 _They all jumped as a stranger's voice addressed them. As one, the children whirled around and grouped together defensively, glaring up at the man. He was an older man, rather broad and unusually muscular for his apparent age. He had laugh lines around the corners of his mouth and an ungodly dishevelled mess of white hair that seemed to stick up and out in all directions. He wore sweatpants and a green long-sleeved shirt, with a loose red jacket over it._

 _"Whoa there." The man held up his hands in a calming gesture. "Sorry if I scared you kids."_

 _They did not reply, only continuing to glare at the man in suspicion._

 _"Yeesh, kids are so rude these days." He muttered, eyeing the kids as they seemed to whisper between themselves, apparently deciding whether to trust him. Geez, when did kids become so cautious? In this day and age, most kids were hooligans that failed to think before they acted._

 _Finally, one of the boys stepped forward, squaring his shoulders and looking the man in the eye. He was rather tall for a boy of his youth, 5'8 at least, with shaggy black hair and equally dark eyes. He was the type to make all the girls swoon, if it weren't for the intensely serious expression on his face._

 _"We are looking for a shuttle to take us to 'Hidden Stone Development'." The boy spoke with an oddly robotic voice._

 _The man felt his brows rise. "That's an awfully prestigious neighborhood." His eyes trailed over their strange uniforms. "You kids get lost on your way home from private school?"_

 _The boy seemed confused at this. "I'm sorry?"_

 _The man huffed. "Unfamiliar with sarcasm, eh?"_

 _The boy, and his friends, all stared up at him with unamused and seemingly soulless eyes. Okay, that was a little unnerving._

 _"What's with your outfits, anyway?" The man asked them as he turned his attention to the shuttle map and began to look for the route they would need to take._

 _"They are our uniforms." The dark-haired boy replied with a stoic tone._

 _The man glanced back at them with a confused look. "Ain't a school I've ever seen around here. What're your names?"_

 _They remained eerily silent._

 _"Oh, well I guess that did come off a little... pervert-ish." The man winced. "I should have introduced myself first. The name's Jaraiya Gama."_

 _The children continued to stare at him with wary expressions. Only the boy that seemed to be their leader nodded at his greeting._

 _"It is nice to meet you." He said, although his voice did not sound sincere at all. In fact, it sounded more like one of those telemarketer recordings._

 _"Normally people introduce themselves in return." The older man - Jaraiya - grumped._

 _The boy tilted his head. "I do not have a name."_

 _The man froze, and stared at the boy. "I'm sorry?"_

 _"Enough of this." One of the other kids finally spoke up, apparently losing her patience. A tall girl with close cropped blue-black hair crossed her arms. "We need to get to 'Hidden Stone Development'; preferably sometime soon."_

 _Jaraiya frowned sent the girl a dirty look. "Kids these days..." He muttered as he turned back to the shuttle map. "Here, take this one." He tapped on of the routes, and then pointed at the shuttle number that they needed to take._

 _The kids didn't even look at him before they began walking away. Only the dark-haired boy paused to nod at the man in thanks, before he caught up to his friends and walked towards the stations._

 _87 immediately located the shuttle that would take them to their destination, quickening her steps when she realized that it was leaving in a minute. The trainees all bolted onto the shuttle car right as the doors began closing. They glanced around the shuttle, noting the variety of people that loitered within. Some sat down on the benches, some leaned against the walls, others held onto poles that stretched from floor to ceiling._

 _"Please keep hold onto your bags and any loose objects." A robotic voice came on the intercom. "The shuttle will be leaving shortly."_

 _The wheels beneath the machine began to turn, and let out a hiss as it jolted forward. The children perched themselves on the edge of an empty bench, towards the back and far from the other people in the shuttle._ _And then the shuttle shot forward, forcing them to grip their seats a little tighter._

 _"Is this safe without seat belts?" 256 muttered under her breath, making 23 snicker._

 _The rest of the ride was in silence. The shuttle was a one-stop route, so they did not have to worry about getting off at the wrong station. It was a ten-minute ride, which went by surprisingly fast for the kids. They were too busy staring out of the windows to note the length of their travel._

 _The shuttle exited the station and began to circle the city. The trainees stared out at the skyscrapers and the hovercars, bright lights of every color reflecting off of the glass. Then the shuttle climbed up a slope, and they found themselves on a high rail above the ground as the shuttle traveled above the shorter buildings. This too, awed the children._

 _And then they were exiting the city, still on the high rail. The shuttle shot over the city outskirts and headed into the suburbs. The children stared at the houses below them, all relatively the same size and build, with manicured lawns and pools in the back yards. People walked their pets on the sidewalks below them, hovercars sailed slowly through the streets. Smaller children played in the driveways, riding bicycles or hoverboards._

 _It was all so... boring. But... peaceful._

 _These people probably had never witnessed violence. Their children did not learn how to kill a man or shoot a target from miles away. They would not learn how to fly a space craft before they learned how to drive a hovercar. Their children might never hold a gun in their lifetimes._

 _It came almost as a surprise as the shuttle slowed to a stop. Coming out of their stupor, the trainees stood up from their benches and exited the car, stepping onto a raised platform. The station here was much smaller than the previous one, as it seemed this was the only shuttle that docked here. The platform that they were on had a stairwell leading down into the neighborhood below._

 _"What house number?" 087 asked in a muted voice._

 _"4533907 Samite Lane." 023 whispered without taking his eyes off of the road. He had had it memorized ever since he had first hacked into ONI's file on him._

 _87 nodded and typed in the addressed, her comm device mapping out a path for them. They walked along the sidewalks through the neighborhood, turning several times before they found themselves on Samite Lane. They then followed the road until they neared the house number that they were looking for._

 _23 gulped nervously, his fingers tapping his sides nervously._

 _No one spoke as they walked up the pathway and into the house's coutryard. Iwa was a mostly desert or arid region, so the garden within was filled with rock art and local fauna, with a water fountain sitting in the middle of the loop. They rounded the fountain and approached the front door._

 _23 approached the door, wringing his hands nervously. His companions stood behind him in silent support. With a shaky hand, he knocked on the door._

 _No answer._

 _After waiting a minute, he knocked again._

 _Still no answer._

 _Glancing to the side, he noticed a sentry pad attached to the wall next to the double doors. The blonde walked over to it and pressed the call button._

 _"We're sorry," A female robotic voice answered. "The Bakuton family is not available at the moment. Please come back again later. If you would like to leave a message, press the green button."_

 _With a beep, the recording cut off._

 _23 sagged with a mixture of relief and disappointment._

 _"We could go in." 256 suggested. "At least you can see what their lives are like."  
_

 _"The house no doubt has a security system." 113 protested._

 _256 studied the sentry pad and then glanced at 23. "That pad on the side reads your handprint."_

 _23 held up his hand and stared at it._

 _"Perhaps your handprint will be similar enough to activate it?" The girl suggested._

 _It couldn't hurt to try. 23 shrugged and placed his hand on the pad. A red line of light appeared and scanned his hand up and down for a moment. To their surprise, they heard the doors unlock._

 _"Welcome home, Deidara Bakuton." The robotic voice rang out._

 _23 froze and stared at the sentry pad, then at his hand, and then at the unlocked door._

 _"D-Deidara?" He whispered, looking back at the palms of his hands. So that was his name..._

 _87 approached the double doors, which swung open automatically when she neared them._

 _No one said anything more as the children entered the house with cautious steps. 136 stared around him in awe. A large foyer yawned before them, leading into an open family room with a large couch and several reclining chairs. On the right wall was a large screen, nearly as large as the wall itself. On the other end of the room was a bar, and behind that there seemed to be a kitchen. Directly across from them was a wall of glass, which looked out into the backyard where a luxurious pool and grill was located._ _On either side of them were corridors leading into the wings of the house._

 _"We should split up." 113 murmured. "87 and I will go right, 23 and 256 go left."_

 _They followed his command without argument, 23 walking left with 256 in tow. The first room he came upon was a study, which he entered. The desk was littered with papers, the walls lined with bookshelves. There was a shiny globe on one of the bookshelves, which looked to be based on Iwa Colony. 23 rounded the desk and stared at the two picture frames which sat upon it._

 _In one, there was a young couple. The woman had dirty blonde hair falling to her shoulders, dressed in a pretty sundress. A young man stood beside her, bright yellow hair cut close to his head, dressed in jeans and a tshirt. They both had bright blue eyes. The man was holding the woman around the waist, and they seemed to be standing in the middle of a plaza, with neon lights above them and a large decorative fountain behind them. They smiled at the pitcure, and 23 recognized the way that her eyes crinkled at the edges, and the strong jawline of the man._

 _In the next photo the couple appeared a few years older, though still youthful. The woman was in a hospital frock, looking dishevelled but shining with happiness. The man leaned over her as she lay in the hospital bed, smiling down at the bundle of blankets in her arms. They were both smiling down at her arms - a head of wispy blonde hair just barely visible above the blankets._

 _23 touched the frame with trembling fingers._

 _"Hey." His head snapped up at the female's voice as 256 entered the office. "The others found something."_

 _Reluctantly, 23 nodded and drew away from the frames. He followed the girl out of the room and down the opposite wing of the house. 87 was waiting outside of one of the doorways and motioned for them to follow her in._

 _023 froze when he entered._

 _The room was obviously meant for a boy. Posters of games and cars and bands spread over the walls. The bed covers were dark blue with flames licking the edges, unmade and unkempt. A desk sat on the opposite end of the room, with a laptop computer closed shut, several books stacked haphazardly, and a board attached to the wall above the desk, upon which dozens of sketches and drawings were pinned to._

 _23 took a jerky step forward, glancing at the pictures that littered the room._

 _His face._

 _His face... everywhere._

 _Himself, with several other boys his age, pushing each other into the pool._

 _Himself, posing in the cafeteria of some school._

 _Himself, in a soccer uniform and holding up a medal with a wide grin._

 _They were all him... and yet they were not._

 _Every one of these pictures had to have been taken during his time in the SPARTAN program. He had been taken at six years old - and yet here he was, at ten, at thirteen, and fifteen. But how?_

 _"Look." 113 spoke up._

 _Glancing over to where he was, 23 noticed that the nightstand next to the bed was littered with perscription drugs. He stumbled over to the nightstand and picked up the containters, reading their labels._

 _"Dethamexasone, idarubicine... what is all this?" 23 asked quietly._

 _He heard the familiar sound of 87 tapping into her comm device and waited for her answer._

 _"Oh..." She breathed. They all turned to face her, the girl staring at her screen. "They are treatments for leukemia."_

 _23 raised an eyebrow at this, but no one else mentioned it._

 _"We should leave." 113 muttered. "We don't know when they'll return home."_

 _With a slow nod, 23 followed his peers out of the door. But as they approached the front doors, he darted into the study and stole one of the pictures. He had always been a little selfish. His companions did not comment on this as they waited for him to rejoin them at the entrance._

 _They exited the building and walked back towards the sidewalk._

 _"What now?" 256 muttered._

 _At that moment, one of the neighbors exited the house next door. The elderly lady glanced over to them and smiled ignorantly._

 _"Oh! You must be Dei-kun's friends!" She assumed. They remained silent. "I heard that he collapsed again today, poor dear. If you are looking for him, the family hasn't returned home yet. They are still at the hospital."_

 _113 stepped forward. "If I may ask, ma'am," The old woman tittered at his politeness, "What hospital can we find them at?"_

 _"IwaCap Institute." The woman informed them. "Would you like a ride back to the shuttle station?"_

 _They agreed readily, and the lady allowed them all to pile into her hovercar and drove them to the station. They exited with stiff farewells, boarding the train and heading back into the city. This time the drive was not as facinating, as they was all silent, transfixed in their thoughts. 23 kept touching his breast, the pitcure hidden within the inner pocket of his uniform seemingly burning into his soul._

 _When they arrived back at the main station, they checked the map for the route that would take them to the hospital and boarded the designated shuttle. The ride was much faster, as the hospital was located within the city. They hopped off the shuttle and scurried through the streets, heading for the tall and imposing building that was IwaCap Institute for Medicine and Research. They entered the doors with little trouble, and approached the front desk._

 _"Um, hello." 113 again took the lead and addressed the lady at the front desk. "We are here to visit... Deidara, um, Ba-ku-ton." He stumbled over the last name, hoping that he remembered it correctly._

 _"Oh, are you friends of his?" The lady asked as she focused on her computer screen and pulled up the information. "I hear that he had an episode during school. Just terrible!"_

 _"Er, yes." 113 nodded, glancing back at his companions, all of whom were staring around them like lost puppies._

 _The woman quickly scribbled down a room number for them and sent them towards the lift, mentioning the third floor. The children all gathered into the transport and tapped the icon for the third floor, waiting in silence as they were lifted up. Upon reaching the third floor, they filed out and walked down the hallway, looking for the room number that they had been given._

 _"Here." 256 murmured, pointing down the hallway._

 _They all froze when they saw the blonde couple standing outside of the room, heads together as they murmured softly. 23 gasped and ducked behind them, glancing over 256's shoulder to stare at the familiar strangers. They looked exactly like the couple that he had seen in the pictures - two different shadesof blonde, but equally intense blue eyes. The woman sniffled into the man's shoulders, and he pulled her up and escorted her down the opposite end of the hallway._

 _The coast was clear._

 _The children scrambled down the hallway, stopping at the room next to the bench. Through the windows they could see a young boy lying on the hospital bed, bright blonde hair scattered upon the pillow, eyes closed, lips dry. There was a tube connected to his nose to help him breath, and several others inserted into his arms. He was dressed only in a hospital gown, the blankets pulled up to his waist._

 _23 opened the door._

 _"No, don't - "_

 _But he ignored 113 and entered the room, coming to stand next to the boy on the bed. His eyes glanced over every detail of the boy's face: strong jawline, wide lips, pert nose, large round eyes, thin brows. They were identical in every way._

 _The boy's eyelids fluttered and 23 found himself staring back at his own reflection._

 _"Whoa..." The boy croaked, staring up at him with lidded eyes. "It's me..."_

 _23 clenched his hands. "No!" He hissed back. "You're me!"_

 _"Wha..."_

 _But he didn't give the other blonde time to answer._

 _"You stole everything..." 23 hissed, but his voice grew louder with every word. "This was supposed to be mine! My life! My parents! And you took everything!"_

 _His companions were in the room now, attempting to calm him, to shush him before someone investigated the shouting, but 23 ignored them._

 _"You are a lie!" 23 now screamed, tears rolling down his cheeks. His twin in the hospital bed stared back with wide eyes._

 _"I don't..." Medicine made the other blonde sluggish and confused. "What...?"_

 _"YOU AREN'T REAL!" 23 was now sobbing. "You were grown from cells, in a tube!_ _ **I AM THE REAL DEIDARA DAMMIT!**_ _"_

 _"Shit!" 87 muttered as she and 133 grabbed 23 under his shoulders and dragged him out of the room. 23 didn't bother to resist anymore, just crying and cursing as his companions pulled him away._

 _256 remained in the room, staring down at the clone with spiteful eyes._

 _"You're pretty..." The boy drawled, voice low and scratchy, gaze unfocused._

 _"This was all a dream." 256 told him in her hypnotic voice, that low alto lulling the boy's eyes shut. "Go back to sleep..."_

 _She pinched a nerve at the back of the boy's neck, making him fall back into unconsciousness. Then she too exited the room, the door sliding shut behind her. 113 and 87 were on either side of 23 on the bench outside of the room. 23 was clinging to 87, crying softly into her shoulder, hiccuping and shaking as he let out his tumultuous emotions._

 _She approached them and stood in front of 23, blocking any view of him from the front. 87 merely rested her hand on his head, while 113 stared at the hospital door with a conflicted expression._

 _Footsteps echoed down the lonely hallway, and they all glanced sharply to see who it was._

 _They froze._

 _The familiar winged insignia of ONI was patched onto the lab coat of the woman that approached them, pale blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail, hazel eyes regarding them coldly._

 _Dr. Senju._

 _But how? They had escaped, without anyone following them! They had disabled all of their trackers and beacons! She couldn't have arrived after them... so she must have arrived before them. But how? How did she know where they would go?_

 _The scientist drew to a stop in front of them, still a meter or two away. Her gaze slid to the side, regarding the sleeping boy in the hospital bed, before flickering back towards 23. She caught the young Spartan's gaze as he looked up at her, eyes puffy and red, tears staining his cheeks._

 _"Your clone." Dr. Senju spoke with a dispassionate voice._

 _They all stiffened at the sound of her voice. The same voice that had haunted them thoughout their childhoods, the very voice that had dictated their destiny since they had first been recruited._

 _"The secrecy of the SPARTAN program could not be jeopardized." She told them. "But the disappearance of so many recruits for the program would have created some... difficult questions."_

 _She glanced back at the sleeping clone. "But if the children never vanished, there would be no questions to ask, would there?"_

 _23 clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles went white and his nails bit into his palms until blood seeped under the nails._

 _"The clone lives a... life... in your place. The life that was originally meant for you." Dr. Senju told 23 as she met his eyes. "He will die young, and of seemingly natural causes. They all will."_

 _113 stiffened at this._

 _"You knew we were coming here?" 87 asked timidly._

 _Dr. Senju turned her attention on the young pinkette and nodded. "Indeed. We were alerted the moment 23 hacked into his records."_

 _"Then why did you let us come?" 113 asked in a tight voice._

 _"You needed to learn." The woman replied stoically. "And now you know. There is no place for you in this world. For any of you."_

 _The children all turned their gazes down to the floor, gritting their teeth. 23 squeezed his eyes shut, his body shuddering as he suppressed another sob. 87 tightened her hand on his, a paltry comfort._

 _"Come back to the facility, Spartans." She ordered them with that same cold, unemotional voice. "It is where you belong. It's home."_

* * *

Years later, they would find out that they had not been the only Spartan recruits to escape the facility. There had been others - some were allowed, as they had been, to be tested - and a select few others who had actually managed to slip by the all-seeing eye of ONI.

Most of them came back, after realizing that they were not missed, that their parents would not know them, that they had been **replaced.**

Those that did not comeback, however, could only do one thing...

 **/:/:/:: ENCRYPTED FILE - CLASSIFIED LEVEL RED/:/::/:/**

 **/:/:/ AUDIO FILE - MISSION: RETRIEVAL OF ESCAPED TRAINEES /::/:/**

 _"Transport to Base:_

 _Retrieval of Spartan trainees 009 and 144 a failure. After making contact with their clones, the remaining two escapees used their firearms to commit suicide."_

* * *

 **A/N: The last couple quotes (from Dr. Senju and the Audio File above) were taken almost directly from an episode of Halo Legends: Homecoming. If you would like to see a visual version of this little snippet, you can find the episode on Youtube, just search the underlined portion. But I warn you, it might be very emotional. If you found this chapter tragic... well, the actual episode is far more depressing haha.**

 **Yes, we will see Jaraiya again in future chapters.**

 **And yes, this entire chapter could be considered a 'Flashback'. I tend to do that. This story is not in chronological order, because I'm just crazy like that.**

 **LEAVE A REVIEW DAMMIT**

 **~Lilithia**


	7. Chapter 7: Fireteam Foxtrot

**It would seem that the only time I am ever properly inspired for this story is when I am listening to the Halo soundtracks. Who knew video game soundtracks could be so awesome? Its an eargasm! I highly recommend them if you are a fan of symphony/trailer music. It's got everything from classical suites, electronic beats, to chanting monks, and battle hymns! Just so much fun to listen to for a music lover such as I.**

 **Anyway, onwards! To Ino's POV!**

* * *

The worst part about Augmentation – after the excruciating pain of the Augmentation itself, of course – was the feeling of _wrongness_ that permeated her body. It felt like her body was no longer hers, but a foreign thing, a shell to which her soul had been forcefully shoved into.

Her skin _itched_ , because it felt so wrong, so… not her. She wanted to claw at it, to peel away the layers of skin and flesh to try and glimpse her true body hidden beneath this strange shell. The Itch made her muscles twitch and crawl beneath the skin, and she could _feel_ her body growing at a rate that was inhuman. At night, as she tried to catch some sleep, she thought she could hear her bones creak as they lengthened and hardened, pulling her muscles with them, stretching and pushing her flesh. It was painful, but the ache was so constant that she had learned to ignore it.

Ino grimaced as her hand wrapped around the spoon and carefully brought the bland soup to her lips. Her fingers twitched at the movement, again her skin tingling with the Itch.

After waking up from the procedure, Ino had been checked thoroughly inside and out, and then the scientists had her rest some more. When she had awoken for the second time, she had been moved to a more permanent room, instead of the procedure room. The scientist assigned to watch over her had gone to fetch her some food. Ino had not realized that she was starving until the smell of something warm and edible hit her nose.

The Augmentation procedure had taken almost 6 hours, the scientist had told her. And then she had slept for two days as her body shut down, struggling to resist the forceful rearrangement of her genetic coding. In the end, the Augmentation would overpower the body's defenses, and then her body would shut down and go into something of a 'hibernation' mode as it began to adjust to the Augmentations. After her initial awakening – which assured the researchers that she had survived, and was not just stuck in a coma – they had administered several antibiotics and regeneration steroids to help her body heal the damage done by the procedure. This had knocked her out for another 27 hours.

She had gone three whole days without any food or water.

Ino had hardly realized how much time had passed. To her, it felt like the Augmentation had been only yesterday! But it explained why the scientists did not want her getting up and moving about. Her body would likely collapse due to the combination of stress, damage, and lack of sustenance.

Still, Ino would do anything to get some real food. So far, the researchers had only allowed her to eat some bland soup that was mostly broth with a few small bits of vegetables. They had told her that her body was likely still too weak to digest solid food. Which _sucked,_ because Ino had always had a fast metabolism, even before freaky-steroid procedures, and she _really_ wanted a good hamburger at the moment.

She frowned as her hand trembled, holding the spoon with a limp grip that she desperately tried to strengthen. But no, she was still recovering, and so very weak. She became exhausted just getting up and walking to the bathroom.

Ino began to count.

 _One…_

 _Two…_

 _Three…_

 _Four…_

 _Five…_

 _Six…_

 _Seven…_

"Fuck!"

Her hand spasmed and her control ceased altogether. Her fingers went limp, and the spoon clattered to the floor. Ino panted and grit her teeth as she watched her arm fall to her lap, the constant ache in her bones suddenly flaring to life in her forearm, making her wince and hiss another curse. A bead of sweat rolled down her temple, and she cursed that too.

 _Swoosh!_

She looked up as the door opened, and her babysitter walked in.

"What did I say about pushing yourself?"

A short Asian woman with close-cropped, dark black hair walked in, her doctor's coat flapping softly, buttoned primly, her pants iron to the seams, with regulation trainers (flat shoes). Dr. Shizune bent down to pick up the spoon, which had skidded across the small room.

Ino glared down at her lap. "I can't even hold up a fucking spoon for ten seconds! What the fuck happened to Augmented strength?"

Shizune sighed and placed the spoon back on the food tray that sat in Ino's lap. She then picked up the tray and set it beside Ino on the small bed. She walked back to the doorway, where a small screen was embedded into the wall beside it. Pulling out her tablet, Shizune swiped Ino's file from the room onto her pad, scrolling through the measurements and readings that the room had taken from Ino in the last 24 hours.

"Believe it or not, you _are_ improving." Shizune said as she read over the data, walking back to stand in front of the subject. She flapped a hand at Ino, who sighed and began undressing.

The blonde muttered grumpily under her breath as she pulled the coarse, unflattering patient uniform over her head. The shirt reminded her of hospital scrubs, square-cut and unflattering, not exactly soft yet not wholly uncomfortable. The pants were made from the same material, with an elastic sewn into the waist for minimal effort dressing, considering how clumsy Spartan subject were right after Augmentation (because keeling over while attempting to pull up your pants would be downright embarrassing for a Spartan).

Shizune had Ino stand up as she walked in a full circle around the subject, studying her body while idly scribbling notes onto her tablet with a stylus. Ino shivered as the scientist's cold fingers touch her skin, tracing the scars left behind by the procedure and gently pressing.

"Does this hurt?" Shizune asked in a detached voice.

"It aches all the time." Ino replied, "But no sharp pains, no."

The doctor nodded and scribbled something else down.

"Any internal troubles since the last check-up?" Shizune continued. "Particularly in the torso area. Heart, lungs, digestion?"

"All go." Ino said absently, clenching her hands into fists as the Itch returned. A draft from the vents hit her bare back, and suddenly it felt like ants were crawling up and down her spine, spreading out across her shoulder blades, and curling around front to her stomach.

Dr. Shizune's gaze sharpened as she noticed Ino suddenly tense up, her fingers digging into her palms until red seeped under the nail.

"The itching still a problem?" She did not so much as ask but stated with a frown.

Ino nodded jerkily, flinching as Shizune placed her palm on the expanse of skin between her shoulder blades. The doctor kept her hand there for a while, closing her eyes and paying attention to the way Ino's muscles twitched and spasmed beneath her hand.

"You can't scratch at it, okay?" Shizune told the blonde for the umpteenth time.

" _I know."_ Ino growled through clenched teeth. "Please, let me put the shirt back on."

Shizune nodded and stepped away from the subject, who darted towards the bed and snatched up her shirt, practically shoving herself back into the protective cover of the fabric. Ino pulled the shirt tight against her back and wrapped her arms around herself, hissing under her breath as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"It's just your body adjust to the Augmentation." The doctor reminded her.

Ino nodded, biting her lip. She knew that. This was not the first time that they had had this conversation. On the second night since awakening, the researchers had been alerted by the lab's AI system that a subject was injured, and had burst into Ino's bathroom to find her body riddled with claw marks, bloody and raw, as she sat on the floor of the shower and rubbed her skin until it bled. When the scrubber wasn't enough, Ino had used her long nails, clawing through her skin, mumbling about the _Itch_ and the _wrong body_. It had taken three men to pull her out of the shower and wrestle her to the ground, her enhanced strength making it difficult for them to subdue her. Eventually someone had injected a knockout drug, and Ino woke up to find herself covered in bandages and strapped down her bed, her nails filed down to the base of her fingers.

They had kept her manacled to her bed for over a week, not that she blamed them. The Itch had been the worst in those first few weeks after the Augmentation, and while it still haunted her, it was not nearly as bad now as it had been then. She had felt ashamed at her senseless behavior, but Dr. Shizune had assured her that she was not the only subject to experience such side-effects.

"Believe it or not," Shizune's voice interrupted Ino's musings, "You are recovering much faster than most of the other subjects. I think we will be able to start you on physical training soon."

 _Oh thank god._ Ino thought with a sigh. The most physical activity she had been allowed to do in the past few weeks was going for a walk around the labs, which were never very long or exciting, and always made her out of breath due to her weakened state. Despite her body's limitations, her mind had not forgotten the thrill of physical activity, and she was dreaming of stretching her legs and sweating out her frustrations.

"We should have you back up to your previous strength in the next month." Shizune stated as she tapped and clicked various things on her tablet. "And after that, we'll start training your body with its increased abilities. It won't be easy – we might have strengthened your body on a microscopic level, but those enhancements have not actually been exercised yet. You will need to re-learn all of your limitations, and then push them further."

"Anything to get out of this damn room." Ino muttered.

Dr. Shizune gave her an amused smirk. "I'll go discuss these to Dr. Senju, then." She tucked her tablet under her arm and picked up the food tray off of the bed, turning to walk out of the room.

Ino huffed as she leaned her elbow onto her knees and rubbed her temples. If the Itch did not drive her mad, this tiny little room definitely would.

White walls. White ceiling. White bed sheets. The only interruption was the grey nightstand that sat beside her bed, which held a tablet for some idle videogames and reading to keep her 'entertained'. Oh, and the mint color of her hospital scrubs – I mean, patient uniform. Other than that, the room was about as impersonal as a room could be.

"Todd." Ino said aloud.

"Subject 427, recognized." A robotic male voice chimed from the ceiling.

Ino fell backwards onto her bed and swung her long legs up onto it, crossing her arms under her head like one of her old classmates used to do.

"Would you please put on that Indie playist from my personal files?" She asked the lab AI.

"Of course." Todd answered just as the beginning guitar solo for a song began to play softly. "Thank you for saying 'please', Subject 427. The other Subjects lack such manners."

Ino giggled at the indignant tone of the AI. Humming along and tapping her foot to the beat, the blonde pulled out her tablet and began to read.

* * *

After three months, Ino felt stronger than she ever had in her entire life. She could run for miles without getting out of breath, jump nearly five feet high in a single leap, and punch through a solid brick wall (with a running start, of course).

She now weighed in at 43 kilograms – all solid muscle – and stood at 1.8 meters (roughly 6'7 ft). Her trainers could barely keep pace with her, now that her body had fully accepted and merged with the Augmentation. She was stronger and faster than any normal human, even those on steroids, and even her neural activity had increased, her brain transmitting thoughts faster than the average human in order to keep up with her physical speed.

That was not to say that she was anywhere near Spartan strength, as that would take another year to fully develop, but she was already stronger than most humans.

In that time, she had seen a few of the other subjects during training, but none of them had been Kiba, Naruto, or Sasuke. She was worried, though she tried not to dwell on it. Had they survived the Augmentation? Surely if anyone could, it would be those three trouble makers?

Ino frowned into the mirror as she readjusted her new uniform. It was a black body suit, the latest neuro-lace fabric inlaid with thin ceramic armor plating across her chest, back, and joints. It would have been too heavy for any normal human to wear as everyday clothing, but with her enhancements, she hardly noticed the weight.

They had shaved her head at the beginning of the Augmentation, but now after three months, it had grown out just long enough for her to pull it back into a stubby ponytail. That was only one of the things that had changed about her since the procedure. Her face had sharpened, her cheeks losing any remnants of baby-fat, her cheekbones sharp, her eyes sharper still, shining a brighter blue than before the Augmentation (Ino assumed it had to do with the genetic rearranging). She could see farther and more clearly than normal humans, the bright lights nearly blinding to her pupils, since they had been modified to see in the dark. All of her senses had increased.

She grinned at her reflection – she loved how sleek and dangerous the suit made her look. Although she hated the gloves built into the sleeves, preventing skin-to-skin contact with anything. Although it made sense if she was going to be exploring the galaxy and dealing with alien shit all the time. No one wanted to risk contact with whatever bacteria those aliens might be carrying. It had a potential smallpox-situation written all over it. Their blood _glowed in the dark_ for goodness sake. There was no way that was normal.

The ONI pyramid-like logo was sewn in grey onto her left shoulder, small but still noticeable against the completely black uniform.

"Subject 427." Todd's voice sounded overhead. "Please report to the training room now. Dr. Shizune will take you and the rest of her subjects to the meeting point."

"Acknowledged and confirmed." Ino replied back, spinning on her heel and exiting her bathroom.

The door to her room slid open. Exiting her room for the last time, Ino took note that the other rooms in the hallway were now open, with their subjects emerging from them in the same uniform as she. Ino made eye contact with a few of them and nodded solemnly in greeting, scanning for her friends, but not seeing anyone remotely similar. She frowned in disappointment and pushed away the depressing thoughts that crept into her head, falling in line with the other subjects as they walked en masse towards the training room.

They navigated the corridors of the labs with familiar ease, soon entering a large, cavernous room that had rows upon rows of workout facilities and several obstacle courses.

Dr. Shizune was waiting for them just inside their entrance.

"Subjects 400 through 450." She greeted them. "I want two parallel lines. Follow me."

They all fell in behind each other, finding a partner to stand beside. Shizune's heels clacked softly against the floor of the training room, although Ino's enhanced hearing could hear it as clearly as if she were walking beside the doctor.

They were led to the end of the training area, where she noticed other groups of subject lined up behind their assigned researcher. A small podium was set up in front of all of them, where beside the microphone was the infamous Dr. Tsunade Senju and General Danzo Shimura. They were talking lowly with their heads bent towards each other.

Ino had only spoken to Dr. Senju twice, once when she had awakened from the Augmentation, and once when the woman had come to study Dr. Shizune's subjects during training. General Danzo was more of a myth than a man to Ino. He was a virtually unknown general of the Federation, never appearing in public and whose work was entirely classified. She had only heard about him once she had joined the program. He was a terrifying person. Despite his disfigured body – a missing eye, a missing arm, and a constant limp – his cold aura and ruthless command more than made up for it. Ino suspected that Tsunade only worked with Danzo because no other general would be crazy or cruel enough to authorize the type of experiments needed to perfect the Spartan Augmentation. She tried not to dwell on those implications, because everything would have been highly illegal – although with the desperation that the Bijuu invasion was inciting, she could see why the Federation would deem it a necessary evil. But if it weren't for the war, she knew that both of them would have been charged with war crimes a hundred times over.

"Now that you're all here…"

Dr. Senju's voice rang out across the gathering, silencing the whispers of the subjects.

"Let us get down to business."

Excitement thrummed in the air as the subjects stood up straighter, snapping into parade rest and staring up ahead with their heads high.

"Today you have all completed the basic training of our Spartan recruitment." Tsunade stated. "Congratulations. But remember, your bodies might have accepted the Augmentation, but they are still adjusting. You will not be up to full strength for another year or so. There is still much that you all have to learn and train for. But from this day forward, you may call yourselves Spartans."

Shizune walked onto the makeshift stage and to her side, handing Dr. Senju a small stack of papers. Tsunade thanked her, and then turned back to the microphone. "Now you will all be assigned to your fireteams, based on individual skill and collective specializations. When I call your name, walk up here and stand before the podium. After I have finished calling all the members of your team, you will walk over to Sergeant Izumo, who will inform you of your designated positions. Then Sergeant Kotetsu will lead you all out of the labs and to the upper levels, where you will be introduced to the Spartan Team that will be your mentors."

Ino grimaced. _Ugh, congratulations on graduating Spartan academy, here's your prize: more student training! Bollocks._

"Team Jupiter…"

Ino tuned out as name after name was called, men and woman lining up in rows of six before the podium, and then being led out of the room. It was like that time before Augmentation all over again.

"Team Foxtrot." Dr. Senju's voice changed in pitch for some reason, and made Ino pay closer attention. "Yamanaka Ino."

Her eyes widened, her heart leaping in her chest and thundering in her ears. She kept her face calm despite her nerves going haywire, striding confidently past the rows of soldiers and towards the podium. Reaching the front of the crowd, she fell into parade rest before her superiors, saluting General Danzo and then clasping her hands behind her back, squaring her shoulders.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

She stifled a gasp at the familiar name, pressing her lips together to conceal her elation. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a huge figure stand beside her. Oh wow... Hinata would faint if she saw him now. Naruto was well over seven feet tall, all bulked up with muscle, and had a cocky grin slanting across his lips.

He winked back at her.

 _Prat._ She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

Both she and Naruto widened their eyes, resisting the urge to turn around and look for their friend. On the other side of Naruto, a taller version of her old classmate join their line, not as buff as Naruto, but definitely packing on the lean muscle.

 _Two accounted for._ She thought, relieved to know that they had survive the procedure.

"Suna Gaara."

She glanced over to see a rather dark haired redhead come to stand beside Kiba, with beautiful pale green eyes and an intense aura. Though shorter than both Kiba and Naruto, he was still taller than Ino, and had the same lean musculature as Kiba. He also had the whole 'tall-dark-and-handsome' thing going for him, that's for sure.

"Aburame Shino." Another man appeared at the end of the line, lean but muscular. Strangely enough, he had some sort of circlet device that covered his eyes and encircled his head.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Ino nearly choked at that. _All three of her boys! They had all survived!_

The blonde glanced up to stare intently at Dr. Senju. What luck for all of them to be assigned to the same team! It was too coincidental. How did she know?

She risked glancing back down the row, noticing that Sasuke was also way taller and buffer than before. All three of her boys were now over seven feet tall, and she was not much shorter. Although, Ino swore that the Augmentation had enhanced Sasuke's looks as well, because he was so beautiful now that it should be made illegal.

 _His codename will be Pretty Boy_. She thought with sadistic humor, knowing that Naruto and Kiba would whole-heartedly support the decision. She pitied the rest of the female race. As far back as she could remember, only she, Hinata, and Sakura had ever been able to ignore Sasuke's charms.

 _Sakura…_ Oh wow, it had been a long time since she had thought about her. Her friends had gone into a bit of a state of shock after their pink-haired friend had just disappeared. They had waited for her to come back that night, and then the days following after… but she never returned. They had checked her room, but it remained untouched. A month after the pinkette's disappearance, Hinata checked on Sakura's old room, like she did once a week, and found that someone had removed all of Sakura's things. After that Shikamaru had hacked into the school systems only to find… nothing. It was like Sakura had never existed. No records, no accounts, not even a government licensure.

Sometimes Ino wondered if they had all imagined her. They had only known her for little more than half a year.

"Congratulations, Team Foxtrot."

At the sound of Dr. Senju's voice, Ino snapped back to attention, nodding towards the scientist, and then saluting General Danzo once more, before striding away and leading those behind her towards Sergeant Izumo.

"Hello kids." Izumo drawled as they approached him. He fixed his gaze on Ino. "Congrats blondie, you've been awarded the position of team officer."

Ino stared at him in surprise. _She_ was team officer? Really? She had not expected such a thing. She had never thought of herself as leader material, neither particularly special nor inspiring.

"Senju assigned it herself." Izumo told her when he saw the look on her face. He tapped the notes scribbled down onto his clipboard. "Apparently she read the report about your defense of Konoha City." Then he gestured to her old classmates. "You and your friends here."

Naruto, Kiba, and Sasuke looked stunned, for once.

"Now then," Izumo cleared his throat. "Onto the next position. Suna Gaara, you're the beta, second in command. Inuzuka, Uzumaki, and… Uchiha Sasuke." Izumo's brows went up at the mention of his last name. "Mighty powerful name around here, kid. But don't expect anyone to hand you anything."

Sasuke frowned. He had always hated when people assumed that he used his family name to get what he wanted. "With all due respect, sir, I cannot qualify for the Spartan program by my name alone."

Izumo studied the young man for a moment, before chuckling to himself. "Yeah, you're right. And your stats prove it, too." The sergeant said as he glanced down at his notes.

"Anyway, you three are the big guns here. You get to get all personal with those Bijuu bastards."

Kiba and Naruto grinned at each other and fist-bumped.

"You'll be team sniper, Aburame."

The mysterious man just hummed in response.

The sergeant then flipped his notes some more, waving them away as the next team approached him.

"Team Omni, your officer is Hyuuga Neji. Your beta will be Macha Tenten, and you're…"

They paused, Naruto's eyes widening as he froze in place. Kiba, Sasuke, and Ino all glanced at each other in surprise, and then looked back at the team that had been after them.

And there he was – Hinata's cousin. He had the classic Hyuuga features, there was no way it could be anyone else.

"You know him?" Ino asked Naruto.

"Yeah." The other blonde nodded, still in shock. "I met him a couple times when I've visited her family. I knew he was in the military… but I never realized… well…"

Ino nodded. "Yeah, I get what you're saying."

"Oi, what's the hold up?" One of their new teammates interrupted them. Ino turned to face him, craning her neck to look up at him.

 _Gaara, right?_ She tried to remember correctly.

"Um, nothing." Ino tugged on Naruto, breaking their gaze away from the Hyuuga. She trotted forward to walk in front of her new team, leading them towards the next man they needed to meet.

Sergeant Kotetsu met them by the doors leading to the main corridor. "Team Foxtrot?"

"Here, sir." Ino answered for them.

He nodded at her. "Follow me, please."

They escorted toward lift, and then for the first time in months, left the underground levels of the base.

"Careful about looking out of the windows." Sgt. Kotetsu told them as the lift began to slow. "Your eyes have not seen the sun for a while. It might hurt if you don't avert your gaze."

 _Huh. I hadn't thought about that._ Ino thought as she followed the man out of the lift, her boys right behind her. Just as the sergeant had said, she had to squint her eyes as they entered the halls which were lined with windows.

Ino glanced out, keeping her eyes down and staring at the ground below. She was surprised when she could make out the leaves of the bushes two stories below. She knew that the Augmentation had enhanced her eyesight but… wow.

"You kids got assigned to Team Alpha Blue, of all things." Sgt. Kotetsu told them. "You should count yourselves lucky – or unlucky. Take your pick."

He chuckled darkly, which only made Ino more nervous. Alpha team?! They were paired with the best? Oh no. Oh no, no, no. They were so dead.

"You'll be reporting to Nightingale." The sergeant told them.

Ino felt her brows raise and glanced at her teammates.

"Er… Nightingale?" Naruto asked. "No rank, sir?"

"The older Spartans aren't like you kids. They don't come with ranks." The sergeant chuckled. "They are not really a part of traditional military ranks. They have their own hierarchy."

"So Nightingale is her name?" Sasuke finally spoke up.

Sgt. Kotetsu continued to chuckle. "It's a codename, of course. These Spartans don't have names."

 _What?_ The recruits glanced at each other and shrugged.

"Well, here is where I leave you." The sergeant led then through a pair of automatic sliding doors into a room that seemed to be a lounge of some sort. It was nothing luxurious, just two couches sitting in front of a screen, with a table in the middle and a soda machine off to the side.

"Time to go grab Team Omni." He grinned. "Poor sods have it worse than you kids do – they've been assigned to Alpha Red. Ha! We'll see how long they last with those crazy fuckers."

Ino suddenly pitied the Hyuuga and his team. _Team Alpha Red, huh?_ If her team was assigned Alpha Blue, then that made Neji's team their counterparts. Two teams that made up one larger team in the event of a large-scale battle, so that members could be swapped out in rotations to maximize efficiency.

As Sergeant Kotetsu walked away, Ino turned to address her men. She made eye contact with Kiba, Naruto, and Sasuke, and grinned.

"I thought you idiots were dead!" She laughed as the four of them embraced in a group hug.

"Me too." Kiba admitted.

"Not me!" Naruto said, ever optimistic. "Not to mention I was stuck with Teme over here in my training group. No god could be cruel enough to stick me with just _him_ for the rest of my life."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Ahem."

The four of them broke apart to look over at the other two members of their team. Ino gave them the brightest smile she could muster and held out her hand to the redhead, who had been the one to clear his throat.

"Hi!" She greeted him, and he seemed a little shocked at her enthusiasm. "My name is Yamanaka Ino. Just call me Ino – er, well, I guess that's _Officer_ Ino, now."

Gaara shook her hand, his grip strong and confident, although his eyes conveyed that he was still a little unsure about her. _Cautious, this one._

Naruto chuckled as he approached the redhead and clapped him on the back in that friendly-manly way, earning himself a dirty glare from Gaara. "Don't be alarmed, Ino has always been like that. Cheerleader and all that jazz."

Gaara reached up to Naruto's arm and plucked it off of his person. "Don't touch me." He growled.

Ino tried not to giggle at the hurt look on Naruto's face. He looked like a kicked puppy. She turned to the other member of their team. "Hello, Shino."

To her utter amusement, he blushed, his cheeks turning rosy as she addressed him. _Aw, how cute. Despite the fact that he's got that weird thing over his eyes._

"Ma'am." Shino held out his hand for her to shake, which she did.

" _Officer_ Yamanaka." Kiba pondered aloud, and then trapped her in a bear hug. "They grow up so fast!" He cried dramatically, stealing her ponytail and messing up her hair. "I remember when you were just a baby cheerleader, so young and innocent!"

"Gerroff ya bastard!" Ino's muffled voice cried as she yanked herself out of his hold.

Sasuke smirked as he pulled Kiba off of the irate blonde. "Technically, she's out superior now, Inuzuka."

"That's right!" Ino huffed as she patted down her uniform, not that there was much that could wrinkle the armored skinsuit. "And that's the only time I'll let you get away with that, cadet."

Inuzuka just grinned, the cocky bastard, and handed her ponytail back to her. Their new captain swiped it from his hands and quickly tied her hair back up.

Kiba turned to Shino after that. "So what's with the get up?"

"You mean this?" Shino tapped the circlet around his head. "I was born with extreme hyperopia – which means I am _very_ farsighted. It helps with sniper training, over course, but I can't see anything closer than ten feet in front of me. The Augmentation only increased my hyperopia, so I need to wear an optimitus to protect my eyes from damaging themselves just to see the stuff in front of me. Otherwise I'd be walking into walls."

"So you have supervision?!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

Sasuke sighed and smacked the blonde over the head. "Forgive his idiocy. They have yet to find a cure."

Shino chuckled as Naruto rounded on his friend and began to yell at the Uchiha.

Gaara just made a 'hmph' sound and walked over to the sofa's, leaning against the back of one and crossing his arms and then his legs at the ankles. He looked bored. Shino went to stand next to him, the two of them silent while Naruto and Sasuke bantered, Kiba watching the show with glee.

Ino took a step back and stared at her new team. Shino was a sniper, she was well aware that Kiba and Naruto were brawlers, Sasuke was good with hand-to-hand as well, although he fought with more finesse than the other two. She herself was also pretty handy with a rifle, as well as a medium-ranged fighter. She supposed that made Gaara medium-range as well, completing the standard positions for a six-manned team: one sniper, two in the middle-range, three for the front line (there were variations of this, of course, but it was uncommon).

 _Where is Team Alpha?_ Ino wondered.

As if summoned by her thoughts, the doors opposite of where they had come in hissed and slid open.

"Fireteam Foxtrot, to attention!" Ino barked, her team quickly falling in line and saluting their superiors as they walked in.

The first to enter was a very tall, slim male with long black hair neatly pulled into a short ponytail like Ino wore. It was against regulation for men to have their hair longer than an inch in the UNSC, but Ino supposed that there were plenty of exceptions within the Spartans. His face was entirely expressionless, his dark eyes studying them with detached interest. She noticed that his eyes lingered on Sasuke, but otherwise he made no other gesture of note.

"At ease, Spartans." His voice was soft, but there was an underlying edge to it that seemed to enhance the lethal aura that he unconsciously exuded.

The rest of Alpha Blue filed in behind him, lining up across from Foxtrot to stare at their new trainees. A redhead walked in after the raven-haired male, shorter than the average Spartan, but exuding the same quiet lethality as the first Spartan. Ino idly wondered if he was related to Gaara somehow – such a dark shade of red was very rare, as far as she knew.

Next a taller blonde walked in, more muscular than the others, but still on the lean side. He had some sort of eyepatch over his right eye, his hair shaggy and also worn longer than regulation usually allowed, and an arrogant smirk plastered onto his face. There was a crazed light to his eyes that set her on edge, and she wondered if maybe the Augmentation had been as safe for the previous Spartan generation as it had been for her own (probably not).

"Call me Crow." The man who seemed to be in charge continued to speak, standing tall with a hand perched lazily on his hips. "I am the captain of Alpha squad."

More team members appeared next to the first three. Ino forced herself not to stare as an _eight foot tall giant_ walked in and stood just behind the blonde man. He had _blue_ skin and sharpened teeth.

"Whoa." She heard Kiba mutter under his breath.

"This is Scorpion." Crow introduced the redhead, who glanced at them lazily with lidded eyes, but then seemed to find the wall more interesting.

"Pyro." The dark blonde grinned maniacally at them and waved with almost too much enthusiasm.

"Shark." The tall blue guy grinned just as crazily as the blonde beside him, and all Ino could think was, _How appropriate._

"The ladies are coming." Shark spoke in a gravelly voice. "They had to stop and grab a file or something, I dunno." He shrugged.

Crow hummed, turning his attention from Shark to Team Foxtrot. "Despite being assigned to my team, you will not be answering to me directly. As I am far too busy to be your director, my beta – Nightingale – will be overseeing your training. You will also be joining your sister team, Omni, for many of your training programs. They are overseen by Scythe, from Alpha Red."

"Poor souls." Scorpion chuckled darkly. "They are better off dead."

Crow gave Scorpion a bland look, to which the redhead just sighed and shut his mouth.

 _Whoosh!_

The doors behind Alpha Blue opened again, and two more of the team's members walked in. Ino glimpsed a head of dark blackish-blue hair and a head of… _pink_ hair?! She felt her heart rate speed up.

 _No way…_

Crow turned to glance at the last two members of Alpha Blue. "Crane, Nightingale. It's about time."

Crane, a tall, rather muscular woman, gave Crow the faintest smile in the history of the world, and handed him a tablet, murmuring lowly to him about something.

Meanwhile, the shorter woman stared back at them, the only sign of her surprise being her slightly-widened eyes.

Green eyes.

Pink hair.

"Foxtrot," Crow addressed them again, "Allow me to introduce my beta, and your new director, Night –"

" _SAKURA_?!"

* * *

 **You'd be surprised at the amount of research I have to do when writing this story. I need to double-check my Halo lore, learn the UNSC ranking system so I don't put a petty officer above a lieutenant colonel or some shit like that, and even read over the 'data reports' for the Spartan programs provided by HaloWiki to make sure I'm including the right amount of [ insert program here] in the training stuff.**

 **Dedication man.**

 **The things I do for you guys, haha.**

 **Please leave a review!**

 **~Lilithia**


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